Bittersweet: L's Case Files as Compiled by Near
by Kay-chi-sama
Summary: Mello once told the story of a murderer who sought to make a case even L couldn't solve. Now, Near discusses the case of three others, C, D and F, who also sought to defeat him. It all started with the death of a girl, in the early days of Wammy's house..
1. Introduction

**L's Case Files: On the Acts of Terrorism committed by C, D and F**

**As Collected by Nate River, former student at Wammy's House and currently working under the name of 'L'**

A few weeks after my trusted colleague (and rival, as he would see it) Michael Keehl--also known as Mello--died, I received a curious package in the mail. The contents of this package? A book, written by him. I deduced that it must have been sent just before he left his apartment and got himself killed, but it had been sent to various different locations around the country, so he must have planned for it to arrive after the conclusion of the Kira Case--which it did, mind you. The book covered in detail a case that I had only heard of in passing--the Los Angeles BB murder case files, one of L's more prominent cases, as it involved a runaway child of Wammy's...

I apologize. My writing style is not particularly enthralling, especially when dealing with a story of this caliber. After reading Mello's book I feel somewhat outclassed--a small victory for him, no doubt.

Well, it would be, anyway, had he lived through this whole Kira ordeal.

When I was a young child I used to wonder what exactly happened after death, but seeing as humans do not know about this during life, I concluded that it was unimportant and that I would have to see for myself when it actually happened. In that case, Mello (I believe the phrase here used is 'may his soul rest in peace') would know by now, which I see as another petty victory on his part. I often wonder if he would think of it in the same light.

But I digress. Returning to the issue at hand.

In his book, Mello appeared to take it as a victory that he knew something about L's past that I did not, and with good reason--he knew as well as I did that any Wammy's child who found anything out about L--anything at all--was put much closer to becoming his official successor, or even defeating him. But in that regard, I'm afraid dear Mello has lost--unbeknownst to him, L once met with me as well. On that occasion, he confided to me a single story--the story of the only case he had ever lost.

I suppose that it was a last-ditch attempt by L to bring us closer together, as our two stories were like two pieces in a puzzle--the perpetrator of the Los Angeles BB murder case files, known to us as Beyond Birthday, was in fact close friends with those involved in the cases of C, D and F. They were all students of Wammy's house, you see--our home-sweet-home, as Mello often called it. They were our predecessors, and were set to replace L in the event of his death--but something drove them to all, in their individual attempts, defeat and humiliate L.

And it is possible, and highly likely, that they were also smarter than any of the students of my generation of successors, including Mello and myself.


	2. Pattering on a Coffin

**A/N: **I always forget to put these things in, especially since I upload the stories before adding them. n_n;; Well, I hope you like this fanfiction… it's not romance, but it makes a little bit of sense in the Death Note world. And I will put a lot more of the children's point of view, later on…

Disclaimer: Death note is not mine. That's all I'm going to say for now.

Please rate and review! Next chapter will be up by next week.

The collective feelings of hate towards L harbored by the children of the first generation of Wammy's house were not born in them, nor were they grown into them. Rather, it was a single event that provoked them to begin their attack on him, something that happened at their 'home-sweet-home', Wammy's House.

Specifically, I am speaking of the death of A, whom L had picked as first in line to be his successor.

It is very difficult to find physical records of the goings-on at Wammy's, as the only records that were made were contained in Watari's computer, and therefore destroyed when he was killed by Kira. However, after significant research and a little deduction I have managed to piece together roughly what happened in those few days.

---

It was Backup who first found her, but another student, G, who reported it to Roger. B (as he apparently preferred this over the name given to him by L) shared a dorm room with Arrival and knew her well, but unlike Mello and myself they did not have a rivalry. According to those who knew her, Arrival was a quiet but pleasant young girl who did not particularly want to succeed L, but she was chosen anyway. None of the other students could figure out why, particularly, but none of them harbored outward anger towards her. Even so, they were likely jealous of her--frankly, who wouldn't be? The only girl at Wammy's house who did not want to succeed L was chosen as his successor. It was sadly ironic, and highly unfair. The jealousy of her peers and the pressure of being first in line to succeed L resulted in Arrival's downfall and eventual suicide. She was 13 years old at the time.

The aforementioned children who began their attack on L exactly 5 years later, C, D and F, were present at Wammy's during and after her death. Unlike B, they preferred to be called by their given names: Charade, Dwindle and Fa. They were 5th, 3rd and 4th in line to succeed L respectively.

From what I can gather, they, along with B, were closer to Arrival than the other children, and not just because they were the top 5 children to succeed L. All of the witnesses I interviewed also seemed to think of the top 5 children as the strangest ones there, and undoubtedly, from the files I have on them they seemed to be eccentric (to say the least).

Dwindle, the child in 3rd place to succeed L, was likely the most eccentric of the 5, as he refused to talk or walk, and was almost always seen playing with rubber balls. He was taken care of by his dorm-mate and later handler, Fa, who was known to be quiet, icy and extremely polite and meticulous, to the point that some of her peers suspected she suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

The fifth child in line to succeed L was Charade, who was closest to Arrival of the 5 children. Charade was known for his excessive use of violence, as well as an odd tendency to chew on plastic things. And we already know of B, who made an effort to look like L and enjoyed eating sweets, particularly strawberry jam.

These 4 children were commonly thought of as the strange children at Wammy's, and although they weren't overtly bullied by their peers, were constantly the subjects of isolation and exclusion. A personal theory of mine is that this led them further into their eccentricity and eventually would contribute to their individual quests to defeat and humiliate L, but it is obvious that the death of their peer, Arrival, was the main contributor. The 'last straw', if you will.

Something I find to be of note is that it was raining during her funeral.

---

_Patterpatterpatter_

The rain made a metallic sound as it collided with the red wagon, and a more hollow sound as it hit the coffin. All of the children were tuned into this, and it seemed to be the focus of their concentration. The fact that their peer and friend had died was too painful a concept to think of, so they all attempted to bother themselves with trivial things, like how the rain would make a different noise depending on how full the can of jam was, or how the red ball seemed to glitter with the splashes of rain around it.

But their friend was dead, and it wasn't something they could ignore for long.

The 4 were the last ones to leave the grave. Roger, the principal, had initially attempted to get them to go in with the rest of the school, but he had given up after seeing the looks on the children's eyes.

They looked utterly defeated.

Charade was the first to speak. _"Damn him..." _he said, and it had been a growl, but in a hushed tone, like he had stubbed his toe and didn't want to wake anyone.

The others looked up at him, all jolted out of their desperately trivial thoughts by him. It would have been hard to tell for anyone else, but through the rain they could all see he was crying. His normally wide and colourless eyes were now red and puffy, and he was biting his lip to stop himself from sobbing.

They turned back to the coffin, all except for Fa, who looked at the ground instead. "You should not bite your lip so hard, Charade, or it will bleed," she said plainly. He would've glared at her, but it seemed that he didn't have enough strength. He simply looked back at the gray coffin and watched it, hoping for one more second that she might find her way out of it and back in their lives.

Then, his hope destroyed, he turned and walked away, socked feet sloshing through the mud back to the house.

The three who remained all knew what he was going to do, and none of them had to say anything. Still, Fa wanted to hear it for herself, so she looked up at the sky and said, "I suppose that you will be going after him as well, Backup."

He nodded.

She looked at Dwindle and he looked back at her, and it was confirmed. "Then..." She looked up, first at B, and then back to Dwindle. She gave a little nod, as if a date had been made in her head, and then gripped the handle of the wagon. She wheeled Dwindle back through the mud, and the door closed lightly behind them as they entered Wammy's house.

B sighed. He didn't have any more business here. Death was inevitable anyways.

His mission was now to defeat L, and he should get on that as quickly as possible.

Still, he took another second to stare at the coffin. He lowered his head in a final goodbye, and then walked slowly away.

_Patterpatterpatter_

---


	3. Cards

_**A/N:**_ Hello again! I stayed home from school today D: the weather was too difficult for us to drive in, and there was no way I could make it to school before like, 10:30 or 11. So mom made me stay home and do work, and I wrote the next chapter.

Please rate and review! Thank you! Next chapter as soon as I can get it done, which might be by tonight, and might be Friday. It really depends.

---

The 4 top children at Wammy's house all had the same goal. They each desired more than anything to defeat L--not only that, but to humiliate him, to expose him to the entire world for what he really was: in their eyes, a murderer. However, the techniques that each of them used were unique and quite obviously different from the others. They were also quite predictable. Anyone who had a close look at their personalities--say, a friend from Wammy's--and had been given a case file would be able to identify them without a moment's hesitation. This is why L was able to get working on the case very fast. Although he had been waiting for B, specifically, to make the first move, as soon as the other children made their moves he was aware of who it was, and was able to take swift action against them.

As to why he was waiting for B as opposed to the others, I speculate that it was not just because B was the first to run away. Normally this information would be sufficient, and it was to Mello and the general public, but the fact remains that Charade ran away from Wammy's not long after B did. In addition, Dwindle and Fa left on the first day that they could, which was Dwindle's 15th birthday.

I hypothesize, then, that the other children waited for B because he was next in line to surpass L. The order went as follows: Arrival, Backup, Dwindle, Fa and finally Charade. At the time of Arrival's suicide, it would be logical to say that each of the children would 'wait their turn', so to speak, to make their attempt against L, so it was B who went first.

It is only fair, after all.

---

"B, if you intend to run away, I suggest you do not do it so loudly. You are making an awful lot of noise."

He turned and squinted into the dark. Fa sat on a chair, at one end of a circular table, in the room she shared with Dwindle. Undoubtedly he was at the other side of the table, but the lack of noise he made made him somewhat invisible.

B stepped into the room. They were playing cards, but neither was making a move at the moment. The cards were oval-shaped--Dwindle never liked squares or corners, so Fa had gone to the trouble of getting Roger to buy them this special pack. They also had the only room that wasn't rectangular--instead, a large semisphere made up half the room. An entire wall was made of windows, but Fa kept the curtains closed for privacy.

Typical. The pair were the most well-behaved at the house. Fa had a clear dislike for Roger, but they got their way anyway.

"You have anything to say to me?"

There was a short silence. Fa sat straight as a stick in her chair, staring at the cards made into a perfect fan in her hand. She looked down at the spread on the table, then up at Dwindle, whose eyes flickered.

"It appears as if you have won."

B scowled until he realized that she was talking to Dwindle. Their eyes were locked in some sort of silent conversation. He looked down at the game.

"That isn't a winning move."

"No, but he has thought of one, and whatever move I could have made would have played into his plan. You can tell, from his eyes." She sighed, and took the cards. "Perhaps another game, Dwindle? Cheat, maybe?"

Wordlessly, she began to shuffle. There was another silence.

"In regards to your question," Fa finally began, looking up at B. "The hall guards will be making their rounds soon enough, and I suggest that you close the door and remain in here until they have finished."

B obliged. "You aren't trying to stop me," he said, and it wasn't a question.

"No," she agreed. "Although I do admit that life will be somewhat boring without you to talk to. Dwindle thinks so as well."

Dwindle was staring at him.

"I do remind you," Fa continued, beginning to deal the cards, "that if you remained here until L's death, then you would be called upon as his successor."

"Yes, that's true. But I am only giving him what he deserves."

"And what is that?" She looked back up at him as she drew her cards.

"Justice."

"Hmm."

B watched as Fa organized her cards, ascending, by number and suit. "Dwindle, it's your move," she said, giving a little nod to him.

"Why do you play these games, anyway? You can usually tell who will win after a few moves."

"Practice," Fa answered simply. "I can read his face, and he can plan ahead to win. Cheat."

Dwindle, looking somewhat annoyed, picked up the large pile of cards that had accumulated in the center. He fumbled as he tried to organize them without taking his hands out of his sleeves.

"So you'll actually miss me, Fa."

"Yes, I will. But I understand that you have to leave. Two aces." She lay down the cards softly on the table, face-down. Dwindle stared at them.

"I suppose you'll want to contact me in the future. After all, we're not rivals, really."

"4 threes. I win." Dwindle stared at her cards, but didn't bother calling cheat, as he probably already knew she was telling the truth anyway. He sat back in his chair while Fa collected the cards.

"Yes, I will. And it is good that you see it that way." She stood and took a piece of blank paper and a pen from the top of the dresser. She handed it to him. "You may write your contact information on that."

He thought for a second, and then wrote a 7-digit number down on the paper. "When you know I've made a move," he said, "Call me there."

"Yes." Fa took the paper from him and put it in a drawer of the dresser, and stared over at Dwindle for a second. He was staring at his ball again. She looked back at B.

"The guards should be done their rounds by now."

B nodded. "I know..." He smiled at them, something he didn't usually do, and it looked twisted and odd on him. "See you around, Fa. Dwindle."

"Goodbye, Backup."

He was still loud when he closed the door, and the pair could hear the soft creaks on the floor as he walked down the hall.

Fa sat back down. "Care for another game?" Wordlessly, she picked up the cards and began to shuffle.


	4. Intelligence Quotient

Dwindle sat alone in the common room, spinning the smooth red ball in his hands. His body was covered by long shirts and sleeves, and the only part that poked out was his head and neck. After all, the air was cold.

Fa should be here soon, and then she would ask him if they should have lunch, and then they would have lunch, and then they would begin packing their things to leave.

Today was his birthday... his fifteenth birthday. And he'd been given a new ball.

A new ball, a new challenge, a new enemy... L...

Eye on the ball... eye on the ball...

---

Considering that Arrival and I were in similar positions to succeed L, one would assume that it is her I would identify with the most. However, this is not the case. L identified with Arrival much more than I do. He saw something in her that I cannot, no matter how hard I look at her case file. And despite being first to succeed L in my generation, Mello was older, and logically, he would be after L (as his letter, M, is next after L, and I am after M), so he identified with Beyond Birthday. This would leave me with Dwindle, the child third in line to succeed L.

The other children's memories of Dwindle are sketchy. He arrived at Wammy's house at the age of 5 and a half, on December the 26, only 9 months after Fa. They shared a dorm, and no one saw him very much apart from Fa. He never talked to anyone and never stood up or walked--instead, Fa took him around in a small red wagon. If necessary, he would sometimes crawl, but according to the witnesses this only happened a couple of times. Later, when Dwindle turned fifteen, they left Wammy's together, Fa pushing Dwindle in a wheelchair they had bought and carrying his bags.

The only other records I could find of Dwindle are a few of his test scores, including an IQ test they administer on every child. Some of my peers at Wammy's used to say that L only chose Mello and I because our IQs were the highest, and I too considered this possibility, but upon seeing the scores of the previous generation of successors, I knew it to be false.

Dwindle's IQ was 217, you see, and that is among the highest ever recorded IQs the world over. And yet, L chose Arrival, whose IQ was 176--respectable, undoubtedly, but not as outstanding as Dwindle's. He even put B above him, and B's IQ was 171.

Dwindle was a unique character, as he failed every vocal test he had to take and was always noted by his teachers as disliking participation in class. However, he achieved perfect on nearly every test that was recorded in the files I possess.

I will have you know that my IQ is 194 and Mello's was 189, although I do not think that those numbers are important in any way. But having the highest IQ of my generation, just like Dwindle did, we could immediately be compared. Beyond that, we look similar--both of us look relatively short and childish for our ages and wear baggy clothing, and although his clothing wasn't exactly pajamas it was similar in appearance and type of fabric.

Beyond that, however, and on a deeper level, we are both dependent on people.

I realize that despite my intelligence and investigative capabilities, I would not be able to function as well as I do without the aid of the SPK. My capabilities, unfortunately, do not extend very much into the practical world. Dwindle was the same, only even worse--his refusal to speak or walk would render him completely incapable in the outside world. This is where Fa became necessary for him. Fa was willing to walk him around in his wheelchair and was capable of understanding him just from his facial expressions, to the point where people began to believe she had telekinesis (a profoundly unlikely theory, mind you). In addition, Fa had the practical knowledge to find sufficient finances to support their activities, and the composure and politeness to remain cool in a tight situation. Dwindle hardly let Fa leave his sight their entire time at Wammy's, and with good reason--without her, he would be incapable of doing anything, and that included defeating L.

And it is obvious that he had planned far enough ahead to know this.

---

Dwindle sat alone in the common room. He gripped his ball and his eyes flicked quickly from one side to the other, showing clear anxiety. The day was getting a little late... and he hadn't been this far from her for a long time. Fa... far... it made some sense. He looked up, and there she was, a small blue figure in the doorway, perfectly straight so even the building seemed crooked around her. She wheeled a wheelchair across the carpet--it was small, but big enough for him.

"I apologize for taking so long, but our bags are at the door and a car is ready for us," she said as I crawled into the wheelchair. "Are you prepared?"

I stared up at her and she got her answer. Together, we left the house, and I continued to formulate my plan.


	5. of Manners and Ideals

_"What's your name?"_

_"Yeah, tell us your name, kid!"_

_"Don't you talk at all?"_

_"Come on, why won't you even look at us?!"_

_"Weirdo!"_

_"Asshole!"_

_"Everyone, please stop."_

_The crowd dispersed around her. There was a boy, with wide eyes... this was the new child?_

_"It is obvious that he does not like the amount of noise you are making." She stared down at the boy. He looked crooked, crippled--like a piece of paper that had been scrunched up into a ball. He stared up at her with curious eyes._

_"He's so weird. He hasn't even said a word since he came here."_

_"Perhaps he does not need to." She looked him in the eye. He wouldn't blink... there was something he needed, perhaps?_

_She bent down and picked up a small ball from under the chair, and handed it to him. "Is this what you were looking for?"_

_He looked somewhat satisfied and his fingers ran across the ball, gently, carefully..._

_"His name is Dwindle," Roger said to her. She straightened her back._

_"Dwindle? That is quite an intriguing name." Fa stared down at Dwindle, who just looked back up at her. The people here were so rude._

_But this boy seemed different._

_"I shall take him to his room, if you do not mind."_

_And he looked pleased with that, which made her feel somewhat contented herself._

---

2:54 AM. Terribly late for someone to stay up on a night such as this.

Fa took a breath and turned her head ever so slightly to the side. Dwindle sat, sleeping, in his computer chair, his red ball clutched tightly in his hands. He had never finished the cup of tea she had given him--a terrible shame, as it was very high-quality tea.

She made sure to get the best quality tea she could find, as the kinds you find in the supermarkets tasted exactly the same every time, and were not very good, at that. She took a sip of her tea--vanilla black tea, with one half-teaspoon of sugar and no milk--and continued typing on her computer. She was typing numbers, and sending emails, and making plans. She and Dwindle had a good idea of what they would do to get money: Fa had a small inheritance from a distant relative that she would live off of. And with those funds... a phrase came to Fa's head. "Play the system." Perhaps that was what they were doing... as if it was all a game.

Is that what L thought? What an odd way to look at the world.

Fa stood up slowly from her chair. She had finished her tea... it was time to go to bed. She turned off her computer, and for a second stared at a piece of paper in front of the keyboard. A phone number... they had been trying it for a while now, but she supposed that they would just have to wait until he made a move. It had been quite a long time since they had last seen each other, though... perhaps he had forgotten the number and used a different one.

No. Dwindle had been sure that he would remember it, which meant that, undoubtedly, he would.

She walked to Dwindle and looked at him for a second. He looked quite peaceful.

"It is quite detrimental to your health to sleep sitting up," she said coldly.

He opened his eyes and wiped the sleep from them, and stared up at her. Their eyes met.

There was silence for a long time.

---

The children at Wammy's house all desired to be like L, which was understandable. L was an ideal. My records state that the children met L in person at some point, and although I am looking into this it is an occasion that has since been kept much of a secret. However, I do know that after that time, the children became more competitive and changed their habits. Many of them began to slouch or eat certain sweet foods. Obviously, this is not a very intelligent notion, as simply acting like L does not bring one closer to him. The top 5 children all had recorded habits that I mentioned previously, but all of them had developed those habits prior to the estimated time at which L visited them. This includes Fa, of course, but according to witnesses her habits became even more prominent after meeting L.

The nature of these habits, however, is what interests me.

Fa was, by all witness accounts, extremely polite. She always sat or stood straight with her shoulders back, and had perfect table manners. She kept her room immaculately clean. She never swore and always said please and thank-you, and never used contractions or slang in her sentences. She wrote in perfect cursive and never erased anything or tore her papers. And she nearly always drank tea.

From the evidence I have collected regarding L, including witness descriptions by the National Police Agency of Japan and other people with whom L worked, it seems as if he was somewhat eccentric. None of my witnesses seem to remember him eating a healthy meal, and he exhibited signs of having a sugar addiction. Likewise, he was known to hunch over and had a very messy, casual appearance.

Fa would seem to be the sheer opposite of L, in appearance at least. I hypothesize that perhaps after meeting him she worked even harder to perfect her posture and manners.

There is a theory that I used to think about often, before L told me the details of this case. The top 8 children in line to succeed L in my generation were boys, which I found to be quite an odd choice as there was an equal number of girls and boys at Wammy's house. I considered the possibility that L preferred a boy to succeed him. After all, law enforcement and detective work is widely considered to be a more masculine profession. However, this theory is broken as L once chose Arrival as his successor, and Arrival was a girl. I wonder if Fa considered this same theory as well, and perhaps thought that if she was a girl, she could never become L. This would then drive her to be the farthest from L that she could, by being polite and having impeccable manners and dressing in a blue dress and hat every day.

For me, Fa is still a mystery. I will have to keep looking at her case files to find more clues.

_**A/N: **_Erg I keep forgetting to put these up!! o;;

Well, whatever. I suppose the story can speak for itself, perhaps.

Please rate and review! n_n Fa is really quite mysterious, isn't she? Until you realize that in fact she's really simple. That's why she needs Dwindle…

Ooh speculation… Next chapter up by tomorrow! :D


	6. A Message

_\Dear Diary..._

_Why couldn't I see it?_

_That she was dying inside..._

---

Love is a very uncommon thing at Wammy's house.

Most children find it illogical, and it is discouraged in the competitive environment here. Crushes, even between those in their pubescent years, were frowned upon by most of the other children, and seen as a weakness. Certainly, it would be logical to not want any weaknesses, especially when pitted against other extremely intelligent children who are all competing with you for the same title.

But Charade was a man of weaknesses.

From what I can gather, he wasn't very popular at Wammy's. He had violent tendencies and seemed, from the witnesses I interviewed, to be ruled by his emotions as opposed to logic. Unlike the other children, who attempted (sometimes with great difficulty) to control any emotions that they had--any at all--Charade would intensify them and exaggerate them to the point that they were somewhat unrealistic. Therefore, he was somewhat disliked by his peers, as they thought him to be overly loud and obnoxious.

It was Arrival who first accepted him.

From witness reports, they began to spend time together at the ages of 10 and 11 (Arrival was a year younger than Charade). They were never in a romantic relationship, but some of their peers suggested in their reports that Charade was romantically interested in her. They were very close friends in the least.

And this is why Charade was the most emotionally affected when she committed suicide.

---

He leaned back in his chair, letting his long ponytail fall down behind him.

"If you don't like my proposal, I'll just go to someone else. But I promise you..." he brushed the bangs out of his face, and stared at the ceiling.

"You'll get what you want. We have common interests."

The only sound in the room now was the soft sound of teeth clicking against plastic. The red and white straw hang from his mouth, now crooked and dented. The chair creaked under him, obviously not having been build for him to lean back like this.

Those weren't the only sounds in the room, though. There was a distinct 'tick-tock-tick-tock' noise that was coming from his chest. Under his army jacket, strapped to him, was a bomb bad enough to blow up the entire block. He had explained this to them, and had also explained that only he could stop it and the time was running out. They would have to make a decision.

"Time won't wait for you to get this through your thick skulls," he growled through his straw.

"We'll do it," one of them finally said. "We'll follow your orders."

He looked back over at them. "Good. Let's plan our attack, then."

"The bomb?" Another one asked him.

He grinned and leaned back. "I can't trust you, yet," he said, holding the straw out of his mouth with his fingers. "So we better get to planning pretty fucking fast."

They stared at him, fear wide in their eyes. And he knew that they were wondering how someone could be so calm when they had a bomb strapped to their own chest.

But he didn't care. Either way, he was probably going to die, anyway.

And death couldn't be that bad. After all, she was there.

---

At face value, someone might compare Charade to Mello, and this is somewhat logical. Both of them use somewhat unconventional means to accomplish their goals, and both are willing to resort to violence or even illegal resources. However, they are quite different if you look at their actions.

Mello, for one, valued his life. Although he would do illegal and many times dangerous things, he would put other people's lives below his own. As a result of this, the entire mob with which he worked as well as his childhood friend Matt were killed before he met his end.

Charade, on the other hand, was constantly putting his own life on the line. Although he did hire a terrorist group and ended up killing many people, he accomplished all of his missions himself as opposed to using pawns to do so.

I am not entirely sure, but I believe that this is because Charade did not care as much about his own life as the other children.

He spent quite a bit of time with Arrival, so when she died I believe that it drastically changed his outlook on life and death. Perhaps when he worked against L as a terrorist, he believed that the battle between him and L would end in both their deaths. I wonder if this idea even made him happy, as in death, theoretically, he would be closer to Arrival.

The idea of death making someone happy is somewhat perplexing to me, but then again, like anyone else, I do not know what happens after life. Perhaps there _is_ some sort of comfort in death, and Charade had knowledge of it.

But this is unlikely.

---

Charade. He never really knew why L decided on that name for him.

Perhaps he showed things with his actions, as opposed to words? That would make sense. His actions... he smiled.

"Just watch my actions, L... and guess the message... yes. The message." His eyes wide, he began to type faster on the computer. It was almost finished, and just about time to make his move.

The straw fell out of his mouth and landed on his lap, but he didn't notice. He just gritted his teeth, and thought about his revenge.

_Arrival... this is for you..._

_**A/N: **_Arrg -__-; this chapter was somewhat hard to write. Charade is… he's different from the other characters…

And about the whole "Charade likes Arrival" thing--I know it's a little unlike the Death Note series, but I thought about whether to have him like Arrival for a long time and it seems like the best thing. There IS love in Death Note, it just doesn't get the characters anywhere and serves mostly as a barrier. It's the same with Charade. He's also an emotional person, so he should show emotion towards others.

Next chapter will be up… as soon as I can. It'll be easier, because it'll be a big chapter… like big as in important. You'll see… |3


	7. To you, what is justice?

I would prefer not to talk about Arrival.

The truth is, Arrival herself is not quite as important in this case as Fa, Charade, Dwindle or Backup. Mostly, it is her death that holds importance, and I would prefer to look at the resulting actions of her peers as opposed to the death itself. However, as I have been looking at the other top 5 children of her generation, it only seems logical that I at least devote a small amount of my time to look at her.

She was a sensitive girl.

She was well-liked by her peers, and the other children of the top 5 even occasionally referred to her as a friend. Certainly, she thought of them as such. She did not spend very much of her time outside and preferred to read or think in her own room. She did not keep a diary, although she did write her thoughts down in her laptop on occasion. After her death, someone (I do not yet know who) deleted all of her files, and I have not been able to locate them as of now.

She killed herself 25 days after learning that she would become L's successor. It was B who found her body (as I mentioned before) but another child who reported it to Roger.

And that is all I know of Arrival, I regret to say.

I sometimes wish that I could have the chance to speak to one of the other top 5 children and learn more about her, for it seems that they knew her quite well--well enough, at least, to dedicate their lives to getting revenge for her death. Perhaps it would have been beneficial as well to have spoken to L, as he would know why he chose her as his successor--which means that he probably knew more about her than I do. There was something about that girl--and it is something that I cannot figure out--that L saw as a quality that none of the other children had.

It frustrates me to know that I may never find this out.

---

"Is this the last one, Watari?"

L looked up from his piece of cake. It had been made collectively by the students prior to his arrival. That was nice of them. And they were smart children, no doubt about that.

But there was still something... missing. The last piece of a puzzle.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki. This is the last of the students."

"That's good."

He was getting tired, and although each student was clear in his mind it would make it more difficult if he had to speak with any more. He took a bite of the cake and stared at the case files on the desk. What would this one be able to do, he wondered?

The door creaked open and a small figure walked through. She was frail and thin as a stick--the slice of cake that L was consuming now was probably roughly about the same length as the width of her waist. Her eyes were deep-set and rimmed in black, much like his own, but hers were bright green with dark pupils. She huddled over, more out of fear than habit, and stared at him as she took a seat awkwardly across from him.

"Hello. I am L." He spoke with conviction and without hesitation, as he had with the other children.

"...I'm Arrival..." her voice was weak compared to his, and her gaze shifted to the cake in his hands. She observed his posture and his expression, and tried not to look at the case file on the table.

"Would you like some?" He gestured to the cake, but she backed away slightly as if it was something to be feared. "I... I'm not hungry."

They observed each other then, for a few minutes. Finally Arrival felt so awkward that she had to stare at the floor. L was probably thinking badly of her right now... perhaps he would put her as last in line... she had to say something. And she had wanted to say something.

"L. I have to ask you something." She looked back up at him. He cocked his head slightly to the side, as he had been in the middle of munching on a piece of cake.

"Yes?" he asked through the cake, managing to make it sound like there was nothing at all in her mouth.

"To you... what is justice?"


	8. Move

_**A/N:**_ Bahh~! A Sorry for the long hiatus! I just had a lot of work right after exams... x_x and I had writer's block.

So this is a short chapter, but tonight I'm going to buckle down and get something done. Next one will be longer, I promise!

'till then, enjoy!

On July 22nd, 2002, Backup made his move.

It was small, and undetectable by L at the time, but his peers knew where to look--some of them, anyway. Dwindle and Fa had been watching them. The number he had given them before leaving was, in fact, a zip code for the United States, and it led them to the police station in Los Angeles--where B would send a crossword puzzle leading police to the first murder scene.

It is likely that Dwindle had already solved the puzzle by the time B committed his first murder, meaning that Dwindle and Fa knew where he would be and therefore had the ability to stop him. Why they did not is not a particularly difficult mystery--perhaps they were still in England and were unable to make it to Los Angeles in time to save Believe Bridesmaid. I speculate, however, that it was instead some sort of misguided sense of respect on the part of Dwindle. It was Backup's decision to attempt to defeat L, and how he went about that was his business--even if it meant killing someone.

---

"Dwindle."

He didn't turn around from his chair. Fa didn't look up--she carefully cut off the corners of the paper, until it was a perfect oval shape. She stared at the crossword puzzle and noted that it was indeed very difficult. It was no wonder that the police hadn't solved it yet--and why should they? They had no idea what B was planning.

"Dwindle..."

A lock of sandy blonde hair portruded from the back of the chair. Fa still couldn't see his face, but he was likely deep in thought. The computer screen showed maps of Los Angeles and images of the police station. Dwindle was planning their next step.

"This is the puzzle, Dwindle. It looks fairly difficult, but I do not doubt that you can solve it." She stepped forward and laid it down on the desk.

Dwindle looked up at her, and his eyes were wide with thought, as if he was looking deep into the future. They stared at each other for a second, and then Dwindle put his ball in his lap and began to work on the puzzle.

Fa turned and left the room. He was making plans now, and he would not want to be bothered. It was a good time for a cup of tea.


	9. The Web and the Spider

"Dwindle, perhaps you should look out the window. We are almost in Los Angeles."

He kept staring at his ball, analyzing every angle of it, every tiny scratch it accumulated when it hit the floor. His eyes were wide, as if he was staring at a new and unfamiliar location--despite the fact that he hadn't taken his eyes off the ball for quite a while now.

Apparently they were in a plane. He hadn't done that before. But there were more important things to think of. Like what Charade's next move would be. However, if they were in fact in the air at the moment, they wouldn't be able to get to a computer for a few hours, which meant they were unable to do much anything.

He turned to Fa, who was staring at him. "You have been in deep thought lately, it seems," she said.

He kept staring at her.

"Yes, that is true," she continued, looking away from him briefly. "There is a lot to think about. I suspect the others are just as deeply in thought." She stared at him for another second, and then turned back out the window.

The seatbelt sign flickered on. Fa was right. They were almost in Los Angeles. He stared outside and wondered when they would see their friends again.

_Friends..._

---

Dwindle and Fa were known to their peers largely as quiet bystanders. Neither of them got into any fights, or any kind of trouble, for that matter--this does not necessarily mean that they were completely innocent, however; it simply means that they were never caught. Whenever they interacted with anyone, it was Fa who spoke for Dwindle. In the sparse occasions in which Dwindle was alone, he would simply stare at whomever had found him until Fa returned. No one seemed to understand him, and although in their defense he expected quite a lot of them in terms of communication, I believe that he was not entirely averse to beginning a friendship with any of them. It seemed, to their peers, that both Arrival and Backup enjoyed Dwindle's company, and Charade at least had a sense of mutual respect for him. Of course, Fa spent all her time with him, but I believe that their relationship was far more than just one of friendship. I will discuss this later, however, as it does not fit in this section of my case file.

But Dwindle, it seems, was not completely eccentric--nor did he lack emotions.

For certain people, particularly those at Wammy's house, emotions are difficult to cope with and can prevent one from seeing things clearly and without bias. For this reason, many people block out their emotions entirely and choose instead to develop exclusively their mental capabilities. Myself, Fa, and L (to an extent) are examples of these. On the other end of the spectrum there are those who let their emotions control them and take over them, and even in some cases use them to their advantage (at least in terms of their deductive capabilities) by utilizing hunches and instinct, which I have observed are right around 5-10% of the time--this is a relatively large number considering the variables involved in some specific cases, and it is remarkable that one can come to an accurate conclusion at all without researched evidence. Examples of people who do this are Mello and Charade, although it could be said that L did this to an extent as well (it stands that in any case in which he used his instinct, he could have solved the case using logic and research alone, but it would have simply taken longer).

Recently I have found a select few who do not lean either way in their deductive capabilities, and L fits more reasonably into this category than he did in the other two (I simply added him to all three because I speculate that he had the ability to switch between them depending on the case and what was needed). These people can use their emotions as necessary, and neither shun them nor let them take over their ideas and plans. They can stay level-headed and yet are capable of using emotion and emotional understanding to their advantage. Perhaps in some cases their emotion is what drives them, but not what hinders them. I believe Dwindle to fit into this category: although he does not show anything in his facial expression and never expresses his emotions vocally, it seems that Fa is able to understand exactly what he has to say only by looking in his eyes, which points to the conclusion that not only does he have emotions, but he makes them very apparent.

If this theory is true, I wonder what emotion drives him to want to defeat L.

Perhaps it is revenge. In that regard, he would not be unlike Mello or myself.

---

_PASSWORD GRANTED_

_SYSTEM ACCESSED._

_HELLO L_

"..."

Accessing L's system wasn't as hard as Dwindle had predicted. It had only taken a few months, and chances are they would only have a day and a half at most before L noticed them.

Of course, the consequences of L noticing them were another story, but he already had a couple of backup plans for that, and this window of opportunity would give them something to work with.

Backup. Such a direct plan. Murder? It had appeared in the news somewhat quickly, but he and Fa had been watching out for something to happen. And murder was defintiely not something in any way above him... he was never particularly violent, but he never seemed upset or surprised when people died. Charade was the violent one, and he was sure that he would take a similarly direct approach to challenging L.

He and Fa weren't quite as direct, but they would be the ones to get L's attention first. They would keep it long enough for Backup to be able to make a move, and by then Charade would do something as well. They would have him cornered--and trusting the others to do their part was not difficult, as it would be against their character and their dignity to do anything besides what Dwindle predicted them to do. He wasn't using them, per se, but they were all using each other, like a web. A web... the web... the internet. He was accessing L's computer. He stared at it.

"Dwindle, I suggest we do what we must do with this while we still can."

Fa stood over his chair and they looked at each other.

"I see," she said, looking back at the white screen. The black 'L' stared back at them, a portion of it blocked by the command prompt.

"That is quite a daring plan to make so quickly, Dwindle. And it is somewhat... direct."

He glared at her. It wasn't direct... not compared to the others, anyway.

"I suppose you're right." She looked towards the window. "We may as well do it now, then."

Dwindle leaned forward and pressed a button on the keyboard, and Fa picked up the microphone.

"Hello?"

"Mr. President, this is L." Her voice altered automatically and sounded strange--exactly like the real L. Good.

There was a short pause. Dwindle stared at Fa expectantly.

"...L. What do you need?"

"There is a case I am working on currently that requires the help of the public. I wonder if you could connect me to all the TVs in America."

"All the TVs in America?! That's a lot to ask for, L."

"I realize this. But you have the power to do this, don't you?" She glanced at Dwindle. "Besides, this case directly affects them, and I do not see why they should not be properly informed."

"...What kind of case is this, anyway?"

"I suppose you will have to watch your TV in order to find out, Mr. President."

"L, I don't..."

"You have trusted me before, and it has never put you or your country into any harm. So you have nothing to worry about."

Dwindle watched Fa, wide-eyed. Even through the computer altering, her voice was clear and resolute--like L's.

"...Okay. We'll trust you. Stay on the line and I'll have you connected in fifteen minutes."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

She put down the microphone and clicked it to mute.

"It seems as if we are successful." Fa's expression remained the same.

Dwindle's eyes flickered in the computer light, and the corners of his mouth pulled upwards into a smile. He held his ball delicately in his hands.

Fifteen minutes was too long to wait.

_**A/N: **_The plot thickens… I worked harder on this chapter because a) I like Dwindle, and b) I needed to have some plot happen. It would be quite enjoyable to have Near do studies of the characters every chapter all the way through, but I have more planned for them, and I'd like to show that too. The next chapter will be solely the announcement made by "L" to the American people… what will it be? And how will the real L react? Stay tuned… please rate and review!


	10. TRANSCRIPT: L's Address to America

"Hello, citizens of America. This is L.

I am speaking to you today to inform you of an injustice in our society. Injustice is a very powerful thing, and yet it is often quite simple. In this particular case, it comes not from the evils of criminal organizations, but instead from the most powerful force of justice in the country. There are many people who would disagree with me or even arrest me for saying this to you, the populace, but I feel that it is my duty, having come into so much power from my position as the greatest detective in the world.

The injustice lies neither in your government nor in anyone else's. It lies in me.

"As many of you have perhaps figured out by now, I am not the real L. However, the only information any of you are given about L is simply a letter--no name, no picture, nothing. Yet the fact remains that your own president would go so far as to allow L to control every television in your country, with only so much as a phone call. If the power that L holds were to be corrupted, imagine what it would do to the safety and security of your nation. And as this broadcast demonstrates, it is not so hard.

I do not have a specific request for you, the American population. I do, however, ask you to consider the risk you are collectively taking by allowing an individual to be trusted by your governments, your industries, and you yourselves. To the real L, who I am sure is watching this, I challenge you to either find and arrest us or reveal yourself to the public. It is certain that more moves will be taken against you, so I suggest you keep your guard up.

Thank you for taking the time to listen, everyone. Good afternoon."


	11. At the Bottom of the Box

Fa cut the phone signal and put down the microphone.

"That was adequate, I trust?" She glanced at Dwindle. His eyes were gleaming with pride and energy.

"That is good." She began to walk away, but felt a tug on her dress.

She whipped around, but hid the fact that she had been surprised. Usually Dwindle shied away from any sort of physical contact.

He was still staring up at her. She looked at him blankly. For a second, the emotions in his eyes seemed unclear to her. She blinked.

Seriousness. Apprehension. There was still something to be done. She nodded.

"I see. You're right. We should move soon. I will begin packing."

She left the room and went into the bedroom, and stared at the half-empty suitcases and duffel bags that littered the room. Wordlessly she began putting their things back in their places.

She stopped at the sight of a small picture, framed in an oval. It was on the desk, but turned down. She stared at it, and then put it carefully in her pocket and continued packing.

---

I find Fa to be a somewhat odd character.

In my witness reports, the five top children at Wammy's were quite close and nearly always seemed to be together. Particularly, Dwindle and Fa seemed to be--if I may use a metaphor here to convey my idea--'joined at the hip'. After Dwindle arrived at Wammy's house, she and Fa were never separated--in all of my files there are no accounts of anyone seeing them separated. (NOTE: There is a chance that Charade, Arrival or Backup saw them separated at some point, but I do not have witness accounts from them.) Some of the former children at Wammy's implied or even blatantly mentioned the possibility of Fa and Dwindle being in a romantic relationship. This is quite a debatable argument in itself--however, I do not believe it would affect the situation of the case either way if they were in a romantic relationship. Furthermore, I have no interest in romantic or sexual relations in general unless they have a direct impact on a case I am attempting to solve, so I will leave this issue alone unless it becomes important to me.

What I had meant to mention was that while Backup, Charade and Dwindle all seemed to enjoy Arrival's company, Fa was hardly seen to have even talked to her.

Now, I will admit that the 5 of them were seen together often, so there is a chance that they were friends as well, but it did not seem as if Fa was particularly interested in Arrival at all according to the witness reports. She reportedly spoke at length with Backup quite often during their free time, and was even on good terms with Charade (otherwise disliked by most of his peers). Strangely, however, she kept her distance from Arrival, who was well-liked by almost everyone at Wammy's.

Why, then, would Fa take great risks--even putting her life on the line at one point--to avenge Arrival's death? In compiling these case files, it became quite a large loophole for me and now I find it nearly impossible to ignore. At first I wondered if Fa was making an attempt against L for Dwindle's sake, and if it was indeed true that they were lovers. The fact remains, however, that according to my witness statements Fa refused to show emotion either on her face or by actions, so it seems odd that she would take such a risk for love alone. Also, despite having not been separated from each other for at least 10 years, Fa and Dwindle never made physical contact in public and rarely spoke to each other (NOTE: when I use the term 'speak' in the context of Dwindle, I am referring to his preferred method of communication, which is eye contact--please keep this in mind for later on in the files)--furthermore, they tended to stay in their own areas of a room and did not sit next to each other in any of their classes, despite having the exact same class schedule. This is not the typical behavior of lovers. Given, some couples prefer to keep their distance, but the fact that in 10 years they never showed any overt signs of anything beyond a platonic relationship seems a little odd. It is far more likely that they were never involved in a romantic relationship, which would rule out the possibility of Fa taking the risks she did in Dwindle's name.

I looked, then, at the idea of Fa making attacks against L. I wonder if she perhaps simply had a dislike for L, and joined in the race to defeat him because of that. It seems a little odd, though, to take such risks for nothing besides a light form of hatred. I am still looking into this issue, and am beginning to wonder if Fa was in fact psychotic, or something of the sort...

Perhaps Mello, who seems to be more familiar with emotion than myself, would understand this better.

There are times when I wish he was still alive.

---

It was a few hours later, when Fa was busy packing, when she heard a crash.

She straightened up and walked briskly to the computer room. "Dwindle? What is it--"

She saw his expression and stopped. He was fuming with anger, and the microphone lay broken on the floor.

She stared up at the computer with the L logo on it, and looked back at him, and made the connection.

"Dwindle, Fa, this is L. I have a feeling that you have underestimated my deductive abilities..."

"L," she said curtly, stepping next to Dwindle's computer chair. They didn't have a microphone anymore, so he couldn't hear them. She bit her lower lip.

"I have sent a rather large team of police to your location on Third street, and I estimate that they'll be there in roughly 1 minute and 23 seconds. Good-bye, Dwindle. Fa." The other line clicked off.

"L... how dare you." Fa's voice was flat, but her lip was just slightly curled.

_CRAKK_

A ball bounced off the wall at the other side of the room, and landed on the ground. They both stared after it.

They had nothing to say to each other. It was over--everything. In their last moments alone, Fa clutched the picture in her pocket, and closed her eyes.

"Dwindle, I--"

And that was when they heard the explosion.


	12. Recognition

Wet. She felt wet.

She tried to breathe, but it came out as a cough. Her head was damp... she licked the corner of her mouth. Metallic. Blood...

She cleared her head and opened her eyes. Dwindle. Where was he? She could hear police sirens in the distance.

He was across the room. He'd fallen out of his chair

She picked herself up. She felt dizzy, but otherwise was fine--she may have suffered a concussion, but that was unlikely, and even if it was, it was minor. She must have taken a fall and hit her head on something.

She walked slowly to where Dwindle was and bent down in front of him.

"Dwindle? Are you alright?"

She coughed and squinted through the smoke that now filled the room. His eyes were closed.

_"Dwindle?"_

---

Mello and I always thought of our relationship as one of rivalry and built on jealousy. There was a sense of fiery competition between us--Mello always fought to surpass him, and I barely managed to stay ahead. Occasionally, however, I would begin to think that there was an unspoken bond beyond our rivalry. I do not believe that either of us knew exactly what it was--respect? Friendship, even? No... 'equality' seems like a more accurate term, in retrospect. We always came to the same conclusions, but our methods were exact opposites. We were foils for each other. To this day I maintain that without Mello's unintentional aid, I would have lost the Kira case and the world would be very different now. Yet had I not pursued the case at all, and it was only Mello against Kira, he surely would have gotten himself killed.

I wonder if perhaps the relationship between Backup, Charade, Dwindle and Fa was similar to the one shared between Mello and I. It was perhaps less apparent as there were four of them, but it is not entirely impossible that this was the case. Indeed, if one takes a closer look at the actions each person took against L, they have distinctly different methodology.

More specifically:

Backup took very individual and personalized actions against L, choosing not to involve an entire country but instead utilize a 'small stage', as it were, by conducting 3 murders. Perhaps this was more convenient for him, as he would not have to work out the logistics of meeting more than one or two operatives under L. Charade, on the other hand, used a terrorist group to stage a series of bombings, and killed 44 people in the process. The FBI as well as L chased him during the execution of these attacks, and it is almost certain that his intention was to kill L.

Dwindle preferred a battle of wits alone against L, I believe. He manipulated not only Fa's skills but also the american population (see my transcript of their message to the American people) so as to corner L, and L responded by using violent methods against him. Lastly, I believe that Fa's intention was to use Dwindle as a sort of tool to get her as close to L as she could so that she could make a personal strike against him at some point.

With the partial exception of Dwindle and Fa, none of the 4 former Wammy's children directly collaborated with each other to achieve a joint victory against L (while Dwindle and Fa worked together, they were essentially using each other for their own plans). Similar to Mello and myself, they occasionally would provide assistance to the others. They all knew that they were moving towards the same goal, and to them it did not matter who got there as long as L was defeated. I am not sure of whether to think of this as idealistic or sadistic towards L. Perhaps I will elaborate on this more after I have gathered more of the case together.

I wonder sometimes if this is the feeling that L had towards Kira, or if it was something he was killed before he could figure out... this brings me to wonder if the Wammy's children knew either. Am I the only one who was able to think this through, or did they at some point figure it out as well?

Did Mello know?

Maybe not. Perhaps it is only something you can know after the fact--that is to say, after all the events have passed and you are able to look back with clear judgment. If that is the case, it is somewhat disadvantageous.

I suppose it could also be considered a little tragic.

---

The door crashed open and there was a flood of soldiers running down the hall. One was standing in the doorway. Fa could barely see him through the smoke. He was carrying a gun and wearing black.

Police...? They had to get out of here...

"We've got two here! One looks injured!"

Fa looked down at Dwindle. His eyes were slightly open, and staring at her.

"Dwindle."

His eyes opened more, and he coughed. Then he turned and stared at the doorway.

"Sir! Miss!"

There was happiness in his eyes. Smugness. She looked at the doorway.

"We need you to evacuate! We think there may be more explosions on the way!"

She looked the figure in the eye, and somehow through the smoke she could see them--wide, and black, and angry.

She glanced back at Dwindle. "He can not walk, and there is no ramp at the front of the building..."

"You can get out through the back. It'll lead you to an alleyway, and you can reach safety from there."

She stood up and grabbed the wheelchair, sitting Dwindle down on it. She wheeled him out, pushing the dizziness away, and slowed down at the doorway.

"Thank you..." she said. "C."

There was a moment of recognition between them.

"My pleasure, miss," He glanced at Dwindle. "Sir. Now you two get your asses out of here before anything bad happens."

Fa nodded curtly, and without another word, walked briskly down the hall towards the back exit. She turned once more to look at him as they left, and he was smirking deviously--like he always used to as a child before breaking someone's arm.

They got to the back exit and were almost a block away when they heard another explosion and saw more smoke.

There were police cars, but they weren't interested in them. They had a far more serious issue on their hands now. Dwindle's eyes flickered in the sunlight.

"Dwindle, I believe it would be a good idea to get ourselves as far from the situation as we can," Fa said. "And continue from there."

They caught a cab, and by the time the police had the situation under control, they were halfway across the state.

_**A/N: **_There you have it, another big plot event! What will L do when he's faced with not one, but three cases, two of which threaten state security itself? Find out soon…  
Oh, and a special chapter is coming up. :D it'll be interesting. Please wait until then n_n


	13. COLLECTED CASE FILES OF B, C, D and F

**CASE FILE: CHARADE**

Full Name: Unknown

Alias: Charade

Age (at time of action against L): 19

Birthday: October 21, 1983

Date of arrival at Wammy's house: August 29, 1988

Date of departure from Wammy's house: December 13, 1997

Place to succeed L: 5th

IQ: 164

Childhood notes: Lived at Wammy's house from the ages of 4 to 14. Possible abusive childhood (confirmation needed). Friends with Arrival and acquaintances with Fa, Dwindle and Charade. Violent tendencies throughout childhood. At age seven, broke one child's arm and leg by pushing him out of a tree--grounded in his room for 2 weeks. At age 10, grounded for two weeks for attempting to burn down a section of the school library. Various other penalties for minor offenses; mainly violent outbreaks resulting in unserious injuries. Ran away from Wammy's house at the age of 14, roughly 7 and a half months after Arrival's suicide. Left a note in his room addressed to Quillish Wammy.

**Attached: Transcript of Note written to Quillish Wammy from Charade upon his escape from Wammy's house**

------

_TO QUILLISH WAMMY_

_I'd say I had fun at your institution but that wasn't your doing, and I'd say you led me to do this but it wasn't your fault. All I can say is that you'll hear from me again. Tell your master that I'm coming for him._

_We both knew this would happen, and I'm appalled that you haven't tried to stop me yet--then again, you and your master didn't do anything to stop her while she was slitting her wrists in the bathtub. Did you know that was going to happen, too, L? Did your unmatchable deductive abilities lead you to that conclusion? Or did you think of it as a defeat when you heard that she'd died?_

_I've heard you're a sore loser. I can't wait to see what'll happen when I bring you down to our level._

_See you soon._

_--C_

------

**CASE FILE: FA**

Full Name: Unknown

Alias: Fa

Age (at time of action against L): 19

Birthday: March 16, 1983

Date of arrival at Wammy's house: December 1, 1987

Date of departure from Wammy's house: July 31, 1999

Place to succeed L: 4th

IQ: 170

Childhood notes: Lived at Wammy's house from the ages of 3 to 16. Spent nearly all of her time (in class and during free time) with Dwindle, whom she met at the age of 5 and a half. Scored highly on tests and exams, especially in English, Mathematics and Science--specifically in grammar, historical literature, algebra and physics. Openly expressed dislike for L at the age of 10; scolded for doing so. At the age of 12, along with Backup and four other students at Wammy's house, witnessed a hit-and-run resulting in death in Winchester. Spent much of her free time with Backup; on good terms with Charade.

------

**CASE FILE: DWINDLE**

Full Name: Unknown

Alias: Dwindle

Age (at time of action against L): 18

Birthday: July 31, 1984

Date of arrival at Wammy's house: September 18, 1988

Date of departure from Wammy's house: July 31, 1999

Place to succeed L: 3rd

IQ: 217

Childhood notes: Lived at Wammy's house from the ages of 4 to 15. No record of any speech; crawled only when necessary and was pulled in a wagon for everything else. Spent nearly all of his time (in class and during free time) with Fa, whom he met at the age of 4 upon his arrival at Wammy's house. Scored exceptionally highly on tests and exams of every subject, but was scolded for refusing to give presentations or anything involving the spoken word. Known by his teachers for having messy handwriting to the point of illegibility; when writing essays or papers, the structure of the work was often scattered and confusing. Alleged near drowning in a bathtub at the age of 14. Apparently on good terms with Backup and Charade, as well as Arrival prior to her death.

**Attached: Transcript of essay written by Dwindle at age 6, on the topic of his favorite animal**

----

Animals feared because of unpredictability

In truth, they're predictable but level of danger in

individual species varies.

If we judge by level of danger

and therefore level of safety in humans

small and furry animals such as cats

and hamsters are the safest to keep in the house

or in the immediate area .

Opposite of small and furry animals -- large and scaly, reptilian, or

fish-like.

Example of such an animal is crocodile. Salt-water and nile crocodiles are well-known

responsible for more attacks on humans and deaths than any other predator

that attacks humans as prey.

Obviously

not all large reptilians or fish are like crocodile

some are smaller or less danger

however.

known fact: humans fear what they don't understand

or aren't similar to

mammalian instincts closer to human instincts

furry mammals more pleasing than (illegible)

**NOTE:** Dwindle received an A+ on his assignment for producing a clear and concise argument, despite the supposed issues he had with grammar and legibility. Over time, and partially due to arguments made by Fa, the teachers allowed for him to present his arguments in such a way without penalty.

**CASE FILE: BACKUP**

Full Name: Beyond Birthday

Alias: Backup, B

Age (at time of action against L): 19

Birthday: June 9, 1983

Date of arrival at Wammy's house: November 5, 1987

Date of departure from Wammy's house: October 9, 1987

Place to succeed L: 2nd

IQ: 171

Childhood notes: Lived at Wammy's house from the ages of 3 to 14. Mostly kept to himself and was considered intimidating by both students and teachers. At age 8, talked a 7 year old boy into killing a hamster--given a detention (NOTE: the 7-year-old boy who carried out the killing was given a week-long suspension and was never allowed near the pets at Wammy's house again). At age 12, along with Fa and four other students at Wammy's house, witnessed a car crash resulting in the deaths of three people in Winchester. Last child to leave Arrival's grave at her funeral. Shared a dorm with Arrival; spent much of his time with Fa.

_**A/N:**_ It's been a month since my last chapter n_n;; I'M SO SORRY… I suddenly found that all my time was gone. I'm still more than interested in finishing the case files, though =D

This chapter was way too difficult to do, as well. I wanted to get on to the chapters where lots of stuff happens, but I needed to write this first. The stuff here is relevant. Keep that in mind.

Dawww. Dwindle's essay is so cute. |3;;

EDIT: There was a mistake in the files of Backup and Fa, with the car crash. They were 12, and it was a car crash, not a hit-and-run incident. D: Sorry about that.


	14. To you

"To you, what is justice?"

L stared at her. She was hesitant and timid, but unlike the other children (most of whom were also shy around him) it seemed that this was natural for her. She had settled herself at one end of the couch.  
He thought a long while.  
"Why do you want to know?"  
She smiled to herself. "I... well... you said once, over the TV, that this was a hobby for you... that you were simply a sore loser. I guess I can't accept that..."  
"Alright." He finished his cake. Watari went to get another one for him, and it left the two of them alone. They stared at each other.  
Arrival played with the corner of a pillow.  
"Justice is...  
kindness, isn't it?"  
She let go of the pillow, and let it rest in her lap. "What do you mean?"  
"Well..." L started as Watari brought him another slice of cake. "A lot of the population thinks of justice as in the justice system, and that is partially correct. However, the justice system is prone to corruption, negativity and bias, resulting in injustice itself. I speculate that this is because of a fear of justice and its passing that has been bred into society. In a proper justice system, one would not think of the passing of justice as punishment, but as a chance..."

"A chance for truth."

L looked up from his cake, at which he had begun to stare. His eyes were wide with curiosity. "What do you mean by that, exactly?"  
Arrival looked away out the window. "...I... I might be wrong... and my classmates don't seem to understand it, exactly, but... a desire for redemption when one has done something they consider wrong is common, right? To be able to come to terms with the past and make things better for the future is a human need. Corrupt justice systems don't allow for that, but if they did, the world would be better, I think. A good justice system wouldn't see itself as punishment, but as a chance to show people the truth about themselves, and to..."  
"To let them improve. That's right." L's mouth curled up into an odd smile. "You're very smart, Arrival. Do you want to succeed me as L?"  
She stared at him. "Ah... I'm flattered, really... but I don't want to..."  
"Why not?" He took a bite into his cake, but didn't seemed fazed.  
"If I was L, I'd crumble under the pressure. I'm not strong like you are, L... and I'm not a very good detective, either..."  
"Things can be learned."  
"No... well yes, I mean, they can, but..." Arrival stared up at him. She was shaking. "I have faith in the other students," she said. "You saw it, didn't you? They're ambitious, and kind. And they're amazing detectives, too. I just... have a lot of time on my hands, so I spent it thinking about justice, because you use that word a lot... you have to pick someone else..."  
"If you were able to figure out my ideas about justice without meeting me, it is evident that your detective skills have more merit than you say."  
"But if I can do it, so can they!" The pillow fell on the ground. L tilted his head to the side.

"I'm sorry. Have I upset you?"  
"...No." She picked the pillow up and set it back down on her lap, and then looked up at him. "It's just that... I don't think of myself very highly... L." She caught his gaze. His eyes were wide and curious, as if he was always starving for knowlege. Hers, by comparison, seemed afraid and nervous, like a baby being given real food for the first time.  
"Yes?"  
"I want to challenge you... to find someone better than me."  
"Better? How so?"  
"More fit to be L. Someone with a sense of justice, but someone smarter than I am, and... more ambitious than I am. Stronger than me."  
"Why?" L already knew the answer.  
Arrival paused, and then smiled--she didn't mean it, but that was beside the point. "If in the entire world there's no one other than you who's like this, no one who could be a better L than me, what hope does the world have, anyway?"  
"That's true." He smiled again at her.  
There was a long silence.  
"I wonder if I'll see you again, Arrival." He finished the slice of cake and laid the plate on the table. "I hope so."  
"Me too, L. You know..." she hesitated.  
"Yes?"  
"Some of my friends said they didn't like you... but I do. I think we're a little bit alike..."  
"I think so too."  
She stood up. "Goodbye, L."  
"See you soon."

---

Arrival only met with L once. She killed herself 2 months later.


	15. Fond of Living

The connection between Backup and Fa was, undoubtedly, overshadowed by the latter's proximity to Dwindle. However, they spent much of their free time together, and in those instances, according to witness accounts, Dwindle stayed at a distance. Granted, that distance was still to a point within earshot and where they could see each other clearly, but given the attachment Dwindle had to Fa it would be unusual to display such behavior. The most logical explanation for this I can think of is that Dwindle was trying to be polite, or something of the sort. Dwindle and Fa required each other's abilities in order to defeat L, but Fa and Backup simply enjoyed each others' company. If Dwindle denied them time on their own, he would not only invite frustration and disrespect from Fa but also dislike from Backup, which would have had a negative impact on their attempts against L. I do not know the precise reason why Backup and Fa enjoyed each others' company so much, nor do I believe that it is relevant--perhaps they were dating, but as I have mentioned several times already, it does not seem typical for Fa to do such a thing. It was well-known at Wammy's that they would, on occasion, talk long into the night-time, and Roger mentions in his records of them, along with Dwindle, being the last ones to leave the common room to go to bed on weekends. After Backup ran away, Fa and Dwindle did not continue this practice, and they spent far less time outside their rooms, instead choosing to spend all their time alone. Fa seemed to be the one who wanted to connect with the outside world as opposed to Dwindle, but from this information it seems as if Backup was her reason for doing so. As I said before, she simply enjoyed his company.

In fact, it was probably a good decision that Dwindle allowed them time together, as my records show that later, on August 13th, Backup called them.

---

They had just settled into their new home--a small apartment. Fa had bought it a few weeks ago as a backup in case they needed somewhere to hide out, and evidently that had happened. She was in the final process of purchasing a house in England, as well as 2 small apartments across the United States.

Unfortunately, now they had to rethink everything. L had nearly defeated them--easily--and they had only gotten away because of Charade's timely intervention. Furthermore, now that L had knowledge of their methods against him, he would probably set up extra security in his computer systems, and in all likelihood was already hot on their trail.

Dwindle was thinking, though. He hadn't stopped thinking since he had gotten over the shock of their near-capture and the resulting events. They both had known that Charade would make a move, and that it would likely be something dramatic, such as an explosion--however, the fact remained that neither of them had _been_ in an explosion before.

They had never commited murder, either, but Backup would not dare involve them in that. She turned off the TV showing reports of the Wara Ningyo murders. "So this is the 'tactic' you were speaking of, Backup..."

There was a thump on the floor behind her, and a tap on her feet. She picked up the small rubber ball and walked towards the other room.

"Dwindle, you best not be losing this. If we need to move soon, you will not want to leave it behind." She handed it to him.

He stared at her solemnly, and then at the computer, which showed newspaper articles of the two murders that had plagued the media these past few weeks. Their story, with the exploding building and resulting evacuation, had only made it to the 3rd page in comparison.

"He has committed two murders so far."

He looked up at her worriedly, but she looked away. "It does not matter. Whichever way Backup chooses to defeat L, he is allowed to pursue that path."

The worry on his face did not go away, but he looked back at the computer and continued to read the articles instead.

The phone rang, and Dwindle lazily put on the headphones as Fa picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Fa. It has been _so_ long."

Dwindle's eyes became wide once again with energy. He looked at Fa.

"Backup. Indeed, it has been quite a while. How have you been?"

"...I've been living." From the tone of his voice, the word seemed to take on an unsettling double meaning. He continued.

"I have a proposition. However, firstly, is Dwindle on the line?"

Fa paused and they glanced at each other.

"...Yes, he is, as always."

"I request that he get off, then. And that you move into a room out of earshot."

She looked over at Dwindle, but he did not seem fazed. He just watched Fa very carefully while he hung up his headphones, and stared after her as she left the room and closed the door.

"Okay. He is gone. I assume you have taken measures to make sure this line is not tapped?"

"Of course."

"And now..."

"Yes. The proposition. Fa, you know I have always been fond of you. As a friend, of course," he added quickly, but since his voice had become so smooth it sounded more like an odd suggestion than an awkward denouncement.

"I never thought of it any other way, Backup."

"Of course not. But I digress. Out of my fondness for you, I extend you the opportunity to get what you want."

"That being?"

"Victory against L."

She was silent, so he continued.

"I saw what you did on the TV, and it was very clever. However, from your sudden relocation and the fact that Charade had to step in, the path of using L's power against him seemsimpossible now, doesn't it?"

Fa looked around the room, suddenly suspicious. "Backup, it is evident that you have been keeping tabs on us."

"I've been staying observant, Fa, just like you told me to..." his voice was almost purring. She cleared her throat.

"Which path, then, do you suggest we take?"

"I never said I'd suggest a path for you, Fa. I just want us to all work together."

She fell silent for a long moment.

"That is impossible."

"No it isn't. It is what you wanted, isn't it? Ever since we were children..."

"Things have changed since then," she retorted. "We are no longer childish; certain events have changed our ways of thinking."

"Please don't pretend that Arrival's death affected you in ANY way, Fa," he sighed. "I know you, and it didn't. It was something else. I don't know what, and I don't suspect you'd care to tell me."

"I wouldn't."

"I didn't think so. But back to our plan." There was movement on Backup's side, and a pause. "I know that you'll do whatever is necessary to defeat him, for whatever reason you're in this game. Am I right?"

"...Yes, you are."

"Even if it means working independent of Dwindle?"

"Yes."

"That's good... yes, very good..." there was another sound on Backup's side--a knocking sound, and a grunt. Fa fixed her dress and stood up straight.

"Might I ask exactly what you're doing?"

"Living."

Fa shuddered. "You have changed, Backup."

"Not too much, I trust... you're still fond of me, Fa, aren't you?"

"As a friend, of course," she said quietly, fixing her hat.

There was another knocking noise, and then a kind of cracking she had never heard before. She bit her lip.

"Now, you finish buying that house of yours in England, and fly away as soon as L gets close to you. Not with Dwindle, though. I'll only help you if you're separated."

"Why is that?"

"I'm tired of seeing you together."

"You sound a little jealous, Backup." Fa's voice was still flat, but his was increasingly interrupted by cracking and knocking, and he still sounded like he was purring.

"I'm not--jealous," he said, and there was a louder crack. There was a pause as Backup seemed to try to catch his breath. "I just want to show you what it's like to not need anyone."

There was a sound from her end this time, a bouncing crash, and then another and another. Fa looked up. "I will follow your instructions," she said.

"That's... very good, very good indeed." He dropped something and there was the resonating sound of metal.

"I must attend to something."

"...Goodbye, Fa," he said after a second.

"Farewell, Backup." She took the phone away from her ear and started towards Dwindle's room.

"Fa?"

It snapped back up to her ear. "Yes?"

"See you at the finish line."

"Yes."

She took the phone away from her ear, but waited for the dial tone before she hung up.


	16. 1998

Dwindle sat in his chair and watched the ball bounce. Fa hadn't come for it yet... far Fa and her Backup plan... and this ball was Far away... ironic.  
The ball began to roll, and as he watched it roll across the room he was lying down on a bed, 4 years ago, cold and wet and it was in his fingertips. And there was Fa, and she wasn't Far because they were both there, and the only thing in between them was the ball.  
He was sitting in a computer chair in 2002, and the ball was rolling towards the door now, and Fa had Arrived in the room. She said something as she picked it up, but he wasn't listening, because it was 1998 and the ball was in their hands, both of them, and he was cold and wet and he had almost seen--  
"Dwindle."  
It was 2002. Fa was in front of him, and he was warm and dry. She was handing the ball to him.  
He took it.  
"Backup wants me to leave you for England when L grows close to finding us."  
He stared at the ball, checking it for new scratches or dents.  
"You would go to our New York address. It is the safest place."  
He huddled over the ball, wiping it off with the sleeves that hid his hands.  
"I do not know what will happen afterwards, but you may calculate the variables."  
He spun the ball around in his sleeves, carefully, so it wouldn't drop.  
"Dwindle."  
He stared up at her.  
Their eyes met.  
"I understand, Dwindle. It will be over soon."  
He kept staring at her, and his hands started shaking.  
"I know."  
She turned away and pulled up a seat at the computer, and a minute later images of the stock market were all over the screens.  
He watched as she acquired more funds for them, and after a while he began to sleep.  
And it was 1998 again. He was wet and cold, and a ball rested in his fingertips.

---

It is likely that Dwindle knew of his imminent separation from Fa long before it happened--however, it must have been difficult for him. When I flew to Japan to chase Kira, I insisted that Rester, one of the FBI agents working for the SPK, fly with me. For one as frail as myself (or Dwindle, for that matter) it is a necessity to be accompanied by someone more physically capable, as it lowers the risk of injury and allows us to think without interruption. In his circumstances, however, the priority was defeating L, and Dwindle probably realized that it was far more likely for him and Fa to be arrested by him if they were together. I believe the classic phrase is 'divide and conquer'.

In addition, if separated Fa and Dwindle could each work on putting their own plans into play, something that would have been far more difficult had they been together. It is likely that Dwindle's final plans to defeat L did not involve Fa in any way--for that matter, Fa's probably did not involve Dwindle, either.  
In fact, Dwindle never directly informed anyone of his plans or motives. Besides Fa, no one is currently known to be capable of understanding Dwindle's speech, and if my theory about Dwindle is correct, it is likely that even Fa did not know everything that Dwindle was planning to do. In that case, Dwindle would be much more unpredictable alone than with Fa, and therefore he would be more dangerous. Unpredictability, as we all know, is a controversial tactic and can be extraordinarily risky. However, when one is willing to take said risks, they can become more of a threat than anyone else working with or against them.  
Mello knew this. It was, for the most part, how he managed to remain alive for the majority of the case against Kira. Still, it is worth wondering what would have happened had he been cautious.

---

It was 1998. Dwindle was in the bathroom.  
He was alone.  
The water next to him was warm, and without his clothes he was cold.  
He crawled into the tub and returned to his sitting position in one corner. The warm bath did not help the cold.  
He took a breath.  
His towel lay outside on his bed; he stared at the door. Fa would Arrive with it.  
_Arrival..._  
_"There are better people in the world than me."  
_He stared at the ball. It was floating in the water.  
_"If that weren't true..."  
_Dwindle shivered and the water did too.  
_"...What reason would there be to live?"  
_Dwindle held the ball under the water.  
And everything was still.


	17. Fa Remembers

I suppose it would be slightly more fitting that I give you a page of Arrival's writing rather than my own. She once had a diary with all of her writings in it, but that diary, it seems, has been lost. However, this page was sent to me by Roger just yesterday, and I feel it would be detrimental to my case files not to include it.

-

April 18, 1997  
Fa told me today that she doesn't have dreams.  
I guess it's a little odd. I read somewhere that everyone dreams, but a lot of people just don't remember them.  
I feel bad for Fa because she can't remember her dreams, and I hope that someday she'll dream about something good and remember it. I guess dreams can't really come true, with the responsibilities and choices and unlikely odds that society presents us with, but if we can remember them, maybe we can work towards them and try to make them real. Is that what L is trying to do? I guess it is... I hope one day I can do the same thing, and I hope that my friends can as well.  
I guess it's just a matter of time.

--A

-

Even after going over all the case files, it still both troubles and confuses me as to why this girl committed suicide. Perhaps the world is as grim as some people make it out to be.

---

Fa stared out the window of the airplane. Dwindle was on his way to New York City now. She had arranged for a driver to pick him up from the airport, so he would be fine. And L would have to choose to follow one or the other. Dwindle or Fa--which one would he choose? Perhaps he would go after Charade instead, and she would have time to contact Dwindle and Backup and make plans.  
She sighed. It had been roughly 32 hours since she had slept. Perhaps now was a good time.  
She closed her eyes.

---

The road was completely red. The air was filled with smoke. In the panic, two figures shivered at the side of the road, young and alone and unnoticed.  
One of them was holding the other one. He had pushed her to the ground. The girl... _the blue girl_... who was she? She looked small, and frail, and like the shadow of an emotion was about to show._  
Don't let it,_ she called out.  
No, that was incorrect... _you must not let your emotions show, Fa, even in these circumstances._ Better.  
That girl was her, she realized. She was pressed against the boy's chest, and her dress was stained with blood.  
Blood. Red. Red eyes. It was Backup holding her. She moved and he let go and they were far apart again. She stared in front of her. The truck was on its side now.  
"How did you see that coming?"  
"I see things, Fa." They had only talked about it once. They were at Wammy's house, in the large chairs in the library.  
"Things that normal people can not see?"  
"Yes. Even things _you_ can't see." His eyes glimmered with the blood from the road.  
"What do you see?"  
"It's a secret, Fa..."  
She thought back to what he was looking at, right before the smoke and the blood. He was staring at those two people. They were a couple, walking by them on the street. And he stared at them, and then to the side, and then she was pushed to the floor.  
And then the truck.  
Wordlessly, they stood up, and she stared at him, her eyes void of any emotion. But she stared at him for a moment too long, and wondered what he saw when he stared back at her.  
But she was exceptionally intelligent, and so she had already figured it out.  
What Backup saw was secrets--but not simply that.  
He could also see death.

---

Fa awoke to turbulence in the plane. She stirred, and her hand caught something in her pocket. A picture, damaged a little by an explosion. 5 children sat in the portrait, looking oddly like they had never really been children at all. Perhaps at the time it had seemed as if they were concealing their emotions, but in the picture here they all looked afraid. And indeed, for one of them, it looked as if he could see something that the others could not, and that seemed to make him even more afraid than them.  
Fa stared at the picture in her hands. Who were those children, anyway? They looked more like ghosts.

_**A/N: **_Sorry for the long wait. Writer's block n_n; And I'm going a little more into the minds of Dwindle, Fa and Charade for these few chapters... it's all quite important to the story in an odd way, so be sure to keep reading! Also, please review! That's what keeps me going. I didn't get any reviews on my last chapter, and that made me sad D: So! See you next chapter!


	18. Wait

_A/N: _Not much to say about this one. Enjoy it. Please review!

---

_"I've been waiting for you for so long..."  
"The sun's shining, Charade. You should go outside."  
"Do you want to come with me?"  
"...I can't."  
"Arrival... why'd you ever leave us?"  
"Things have to be done. You have to go outside. You have to protect it..."  
"What?"  
"The thing that I couldn't protect. I left it to you."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I have to go."  
"I just want to be with you, Arrival. I don't care about anything else."  
"But you do, Charade... and that's why you have to go outside. The sun is shining..."  
Charade sat up. The sun was shining through the small window in his room.  
He looked at the gun on his night-table, and hesitated for a second."Not yet."  
He stared at the window. It was a warm day. He moved into the sunlight, and it felt warm on his face.  
She was with him. He knew it. She wanted him to do this... to finish things, to make a mark on the world so she could be remembered as well.  
She wanted him to kill L, and only when his blood wet the streets would they be together again.  
__"I just want everyone to be happy..."  
He closed his hand around the ray of sunlight, but it evaded his grasp. When he opened his hand again there was just the shade.  
__"...it doesn't matter what happens to me."  
He collapsed into a heap on the edge of his bed, the sheets of his bed stained with tears._

---

"Watari, please book me a flight to London, England as soon as possible."  
"Yes, sir."  
"Thank you."  
L hung up the phone and took a bite of cake. He had calculated the variables and decided to go to England in pursuit of Fa. He had a team off to New York City after Dwindle, but he wanted to have a chance to speak to both of them before their arrest--it would be easier to do so anonymously if he saw them one-on-one outside of jail. So first he would go to England to speak with Fa, and from there he would return to America and Dwindle. Charade was still an issue, but chances were that he would make an appearance before both Fa and Dwindle were arrested. It was also highly likely that he'd want to speak with L as well--kill him personally.  
He looked over the case files of the 5 children--Arrival included. He stared at her case file slightly longer than the others.  
"As far as I know this is the only picture of you, Arrival. Do your peers still think of you often, I wonder?" He took a bite of his cake. "I will have to ask them once I catch them."  
Arrival smiled timidly back at him from the picture, unable to reply. L sighed and stood up. His taxi had arrived, and soon he would be on his way to the airport--and the showdown.

---

From the case files L wrote, it seems obvious what sorts of feelings each child from Wammy's had for their fallen peer, Arrival. However, it was still L's firm decision to speak with Backup, Charade, Dwindle and Fa before their arrest. There is a chance that he simply wanted to be able to find enough evidence to close their cases without having his identity discovered by the police. However, although it was certainly quite clear to Fa that L had followed her to England, she made no move to escape him.

During my time at Wammy's house I was not at all social, so I turned a blind eye to the unique social processes that go on between Wammy's students. However, in watching Mello and L, as well as reading and compiling the case files of Dwindle, Fa, Charade and Backup, I have gotten a glimpse of the difficult and complex relationships between my peers and predecessors. From what I can deduce, there was a sort of code between them all--I'm not entirely sure if I should call it honor, but it was because of this that none of the four students got in the way of each other's attempts against L, and even aided each other if necessary. It was also why L took on each of their cases personally, despite them not being cases he would normally take. Lastly, I suppose it was also the same honor that kept Mello and I from hindering each other's attempts against Kira. Perhaps this honor stems from L's manner of thinking, but to me it seems more like something unspoken and almost unconscious. To the orphans of Wammy's house, the world is cruel and confusing, but the knowledge that we can safely trust the other children under L--even though we do not know their names--is a comforting thought, and it is one that has been brought up in all of us. So even though Fa, Dwindle, Charade and Backup were all actively trying to harm L, either via his reputation or by killing him, L worked personally on their cases and took measures to be able to see Fa and Dwindle himself--something he would not do for anyone else--because of a sense of honor he felt for them. Perhaps it could even be called a kind of pride in his successors.  
I find it odd that Mello and I continued this trend. In childhood he considered me a rival and attempted to best me in everything, but he never tried to win unfairly--he never harmed me physically or tried to disqualify me from any contest we had. At the time, neither of us knew anything about our predecessors or even L, for that matter. And yet we still respected each other and our peers without thinking about it.  
Perhaps this is what L saw in Arrival, but I am still unsure.

In preparing for my final confrontation with Kira, there was a single moment when the other members of the SPK had left to make preparations and I was completely alone in the headquarters. I suppose that it is an odd thing to remember out of the entire ordeal, but it still remains perfectly clear in my mind. I was sitting on the empty floor in the dark room, holding only the puppets of myself, Kira, Mello and L, and clutching my knee. I remember looking down at my hands and seeing that they were shaking, and realizing that I wasn't just afraid for my own life, but for everything I, L and Mello had spent our lives fighting for. And in that moment, when I was entirely alone with my thoughts, when it should have been the most clear to me, I couldn't remember what exactly that was.

---

All the preparations had been made. Now the only thing left was to wait.  
Charade chewed anxiously on a straw, looking out the open window into the dark. A cold breeze blew in and he shivered and closed his eyes.  
Fa opened her eyes and stared at the lukewarm cup of tea in her hands. It was raining outside, and the soft patter of the drops against the windowsill was the only sound in the house. The reflection in the tea looked alien and cold, and she thought of Dwindle, far away in America. Was this the Fa he saw every day?  
Far away in America, Dwindle was thinking of Fa as well. Far Fa was Farther than ever now. He held his ball far away from himself and wanted it back, but he had to look at it like this, if only once. L would Arrive soon. His hands shook under their sleeves, and he brought the ball safely back into his lap. It was darker tonight than any other night he'd seen for a while... he leaned in towards his ball.  
Backup leaned in towards the lighter. He checked through everything in his head, and it was all finished. The Wara Ningyo doll stared expectantly up at him from the wall and he knew it was time. The lighter flickered on and the flame caught his shirt, but he tried his best to ignore the pain. He was finished living...  
"Fa," he whispered under his breath. His throat hurt and he felt liquid trickle down his cheeks--was he crying? It didn't matter now, because she would live longer than him... she would keep going, and they'd remember him and how he'd defeated L and his heroism, even though he killed those people who really were going to die on that day anyway, so it didn't really matter, right? "Fa..." he sobbed. "Fa..."  
But he couldn't find the words, and so he stood alone in the room and cried uncontrollably as he burned.


	19. Collective Memory

**Backup**

**April 26, 1997**  
The door clicked open.  
He watched her as she entered the dorm room, sat on the bed and deflated. Her eyes were emptier than they'd ever been, and the black that framed them seemed more prominent than before. It was since she'd seen L... no, a few weeks after that--since it had been announced that she would succeed him.  
It was all his fault.  
He watched her and the name above her head. Most children chose a name that reminded them of their real one. Backup himself did this. But Arrival's name was entirely different from her real one. His eyes moved to the date, and something occurred to him.  
"Arrival, what's the date today?"  
"April... April 26." Her voice was weak and quiet.  
"Oh." Backup wasn't surprised. He'd seen it before, and he was sure of it now.  
He tilted his head to the side.  
Today was the day Arrival would die.  
"I... I should take a bath..." she said, and started to wander over to the washroom.  
"Arrival." Backup stood up from his seat on his bed. He stared at her.  
"...What is it, Backup...?"  
He hesitated.  
"Your towel." He handed it to her, and she took it, her hands shaking.  
She turned back to him from the door of the washroom, and leaned against the doorframe, as if she were injured.  
"S-see you," she finally said, staring down at the carpet. "See you around."  
Backup only nodded, and watched as she closed the door to the bathroom.  
"...It's not going to be the same after this, is it...? Arrival..."  
The bath had already started running, though, and Backup's last words to Arrival would go unheard.

**Fa**

**July 7, 1999**  
The bath was running.  
Fa stared out the window of the room, through her reflection into the darkening sky.  
Backup was somewhere out there in the dark, and so was Charade. What were they thinking about right now? What were they doing to stay alive?  
She exhaled as the bath stopped running and returned to her bedside. First Arrival, then Backup and finally Charade had left them alone, here in the house of their childhood. Now, with Dwindle nearing 15 years of age, what would they do? They would leave soon, but what decision would Dwindle make after that? Pursuing L would be the logical course of action--Backup and Charade had certainly thought so--but it seemed childish to her to simply look for revenge. That could not be all that Dwindle had in mind, or perhaps she was giving him too much credit.  
She turned back to the room and something caught her eye. A towel sat on the edge of Dwindle's bed. Fa walked to it and picked it up. Why had she not noticed it before? He must have forgotten it. She knocked on the bathroom door, but there was no answer. She opened it and peered in.  
The water was perfectly still.  
Hazel eyes stared up from under the water at the ceiling.  
A small red ball was held under the water, his grip on it tight but shaking.  
"Dwindle..."  
It felt difficult to move. He didn't notice her, and she was waiting and he wasn't moving and it had been at least a minute. His eyes looked glazed over, and Fa choked on the air.  
In another second she pulled herself together and rushed to the edge of the bathtub. Water splashed everywhere as she jerked him out of his coffin. Soaking wet, she stared at the coughing mass in front of her, and after a minute his gaze met hers. He didn't blink, his eyes already moist enough with shock and tears.  
"You must not ever try to think like she did, Dwindle," Fa said finally, her words coming out a crumpled and rushed mess. She tried to gain her composure. "It is just us now, and we should make the most of what we have." Dwindle kept staring at her, before finally bringing the ball out of the water.  
He tried to get up, but she stopped him. Wordlessly, she picked him up out of the warm water and carried him out of the washroom.

**Charade**

**January 15, 1994**  
The wet snow outside was depressing on its own, but with 30 kids and a number of teachers, as well as cooks, janitors and nannies sitting outside as firefighters tried to contain the disaster was a downer.  
One child sat on his own, watching the small fire desperately fight against its killers. He'd been separated from the others as punishment for the fire, but he would probably be sitting even farther away if it was his choice. This stupid rotten school was just a step up from before... and this stupid name he had. Charade. It sounded like a fucking clown. He stared down at the snow and fiddled with the straw in his mouth.  
"What are you doing over there?"  
He turned and glared at the girl watching him. She was frail and weak, and was hunched over in a strange way. "You're not allowed to talk to me," he growled at her.  
"The teachers aren't interested in you right now... what did you do?"  
He smiled a little bit. Maybe he could scare this kid a little bit. "You see that big fire over there, in the library?"  
"Well, yes..."  
"I started it."  
She looked at him for a long time. He waited, at first with amusement, and then with impatience and finally frustration. "What? I did."  
"Did you read all the books you burned?"  
"Some of them."  
"Did you not like them?"  
"Well they were okay, but it's not about that. I burned down half the fucking library!"  
"The fire seems to like them."  
"...What?"  
"They're burning well. The fire must like them, right?" She stared at him, completely serious.  
Was this girl for real...?  
"Who cares if the fire likes them?! I burned down the library!"  
"And now the fire you brought to life is dying. Poor thing..." she gazed out at the burning building. She almost looked like she was about to cry.  
"Dying...?"  
"People misunderstood it. All it wanted to do was read, and it was friendly, but it destroyed all the things it touched. Kind of like you, right?"  
He looked at her--really looked at her--for the first time. Through her dark eyelashes and semicircles, her eyes were really green. She smiled at him. "I'm Arrival. What's your name?"  
"Ch--Charade," he sputtered. He blinked.  
"Charade... it's a nice name, isn't it? I guess I was right. You show your feelings with your actions, just like that poor fire..." Arrival stood up. "See you around, Charade."  
"S-see you." He watched her as she left towards the crowd, and didn't look away until she was out of sight.  
What an odd girl.

**Dwindle**

**July 7, 1999**  
He still held his breath, even in this stillness. The bath was deep enough now that if he let go of this last breath, he would breathe in water. The ball seemed nonexistent in his hands, choked off from the rest of the world.  
Why weren't his eyes closing...? There was nothing to look at except the ceiling, but looking at this here, now... was this the last thing she saw? What came after that...? He wanted to figure this out. It would be the last thing he would learn, but he wanted to know...  
he wanted to know _why._  
He prepared to exhale, his eyes widening instead of closing, and he prepared to Arrive wherever you do when you die, and Back on earth he'd be Far from Fa and everyone else._  
"There are better people in the world than me."_  
The only thing moving in the water was the ball, shivering quietly in his hands and sending little ripples into the water._  
"If that weren't true..."_  
He silenced it._  
"...what reason would there be to live?"_  
There was a rush and something pulled him out of the water. He coughed and gasped and he was breathing air, not water, and then he was staring into someone else's eyes.  
Fa's eyes.  
Then he was shaking again, and he felt weak, and water dripped from his eyes but it was salty and everything was blurry and he was crying. There was a hint of emotion in her eyes too, something he couldn't describe but he knew he hadn't seen before from her. He coughed again and let the water escape his lungs, but didn't stop staring at her.  
"You must not ever try to think like she did, Dwindle," she said, and regained some sense of composure. "It is just us now, and we should make the most of what we have."_  
Just us..._ just them... Dwindle held the ball up out of the water. He needed to think. He needed to think... he tried to stand up...  
He felt himself getting picked up out of the water and for a second again, everything was a blur. He looked up at Fa, who was staring ahead of them. He was cold, and soaking wet... in his desperate moments, he had forgotten to take his clothes off, and so now his previously baggy clothes clung to him. He shivered as Fa lay him down on his bed, careful not to move him from the comfortable position on his side. He still clung to the ball through his wet sleeves. Through his blurry eyes he looked at it, but he felt too weak to turn it in his hands. Was this weakness what Arrival felt? The inability to move... the ball almost fell out of his fingertips.  
Someone caught it.  
He looked over and Fa was lying there next to him. She held the ball gingerly at the halfway point between them, but was looking past it at him. "Dwindle, I am truly sorry."  
Sorry...? He looked back up at her, a little dazed.  
"I never knew..." For once, she didn't care to finish the sentence.  
And then they were silent. Just them. Nothing else in the world but the two of them and the cold and the nighttime and...  
and the ball. It rested calmly between them and somehow it was brighter than everything else in the room. The ball... the ball...  
he had forgotten. In all this time, he'd forgotten what everything was, what it really meant to him... to Dwindle... in every single variable he calculated, the hundreds of thousands of them that passed through his mind every second, he had forgotten about what was really there.  
A ball, and someone else who knew what it meant.  
Slowly, his pale hand reached out from under the sleeve and his tiny fingers poked out, and he took the other half of the ball. At first his hands shook uncontrollably, and it felt like he was going to faint... and then they stopped, and the both of them were perfectly still.  
They both knew now that this would be their only perfectly still moment. From tomorrow they would have to think about everything again.  
But just for tonight, there was nothing else in the universe but them and this ball in between them.

**L**

**April 27, 1997**  
L stared out the window at the city.  
The view from the 26th floor of the hotel was not only interesting to look out of, but it was safe--people outside wouldn't be able to see him from up here, but he could watch them. He popped another candy into his mouth and curled his hands against his knees. There was rarely a time when he didn't have cases, and it was odd how fast his time became empty. He looked down.  
The phone rang, and he picked it up before the first ring had ended. "Yes?"  
"This is Watari."  
"What is it?"  
"I have bad news. Arrival has died."  
L nearly toppled out of his chair. He regained his balance, though, and returned to his normal sitting position.  
"How?"  
"She... she committed suicide."  
L swallowed the candy in his mouth. "Suicide," he repeated. There was a long pause, and then he hung up the phone.  
He knew what would happen now, how wrong he'd been in letting himself lose this. He hadn't known at the time, but he bet it all on this. And now the consequences would begin.  
"If in the entire world there's no one other than you who's like this, no one who could be a better L than me, what hope does the world have, anyway?" The question still rang aloud in his head, and he knew now that he should've taken it more seriously.  
He also didn't have an answer for her.


	20. Moving on

L's plane had been delayed, but it would arrive in 20 minutes or so. She had been following his movements quite closely since he left America, but now that their confrontation was drawing near it seemed insignificant. She had prepared herself mentally in every way she could, figured out exactly what she would say and how she would say it... there really was not much more she could do. She sipped her tea.

In the background, the noise of the television was ever present. Seeing as further preparation was unnecessary, it would make sense to turn it off... Fa stood with her now empty teacup and

walked to the living room. She moved to turn off the TV.

_"In other news, the perpetrator of the serial killings known as the Wara Ningyo murders has been caught. He has not yet been identified..."_

There was a crash as Fa's teacup fell to the floor. She ignored it.

_"...but it is believed that he attempted to burn down part of an apartment building and was caught in the flames. He is currently in police custody awaiting trial."_

A shot came on. It was blurry and confusing but she knew as soon as it started which one of the people was Backup. He was in handcuffs and being dragged towards a stretcher. He was covered in burns, and looked so disfigured that it seemed as if he would fall apart, but he was looking directly at the camera. She recognized the look--the crimson red eyes that seemed to glow in a certain light... that was Backup.

So that was how he planned to end it... suicide. In the end, his life itself would become a tool against L. It was creative--something oddly symbolic that would anger L to no end. But there was some part of her that disliked the idea of Backup using his own life as a tool. He at least should have told her about his plans. And now he was in prison, and whatever plans he had mentioned on the phone were lost.

She turned off the television and got a broom to clean up the remains of her teacup. One of her dearest childhood friends was now in jail for the murders of 3 people, and she was a wanted criminal. What had things come to? Perhaps Dwindle knew, but she would have to--

"Fa."

She turned around.

He looked a little bit like Backup now, in retrospect, but his eyes were bigger, and different, somehow...

"Good afternoon, L."

"I see you've grown up, but your powers of observation may have become less potent. You didn't notice me come in." He cracked a smile, which to anyone else would appear friendly. Fa, however, knew that he was testing her.

"I did, in fact," she replied, sweeping up the remains of the teacup into the dustpan. She walked past him. "I was simply concentrated on other things. As you can see, my teacup has broken, and unlike you I do not have a butler to clean it up." She emptied the dustpan into the garbage and set the broom down with it. "Would you like anything to drink? Tea, perhaps?"

"No, I'm fine. I just came here to finish the conversation we began earlier." He watched her intently as she walked past him once again and offered him a seat. He crouched down in it and continued to watch her through his black hair.

"To arrest me as well, I presume," she added, sitting down in the other seat.

"No, that comes afterwards."

She paused.

"We shall see."

L took a candy from one of his jean pockets and popped it into his mouth. "It has been nearly 5 years since Arrival died," he said finally, after a long pause. "Still, you and your peers continue to make attempts against me. Why is that?"

"Perhaps I am not the one you should be asking, L. I have never had any affection towards Arrival."

"That is precisely why I am asking you, Fa," he said, putting another candy into his mouth. "You were the first student of Wammy's to completely decipher the puzzle I gave you, and you completed it in less than 15 minutes. As far as I know you have maintained a level head and an objective position amidst everything that has happened, beginning with your peers' arrival at the orphanage. You are my most reliable source. You were also the easiest to find..." he waved the candy wrapper in front of his face.

"You were right about the first part," Fa said. "I have maintained a level head in our predicament. However, my position is far from objective."

"How so?" L tilted his head to the side.

"Backup, Dwindle and Charade were, and still are, my closest and dearest friends."

"You must understand my position, Fa... Backup is a murderer now, and Charade is a terrorist."

Fa looked up at him, straight in the eye. On the surface her blue eyes were so completely emotionless, but L saw something stirring behind them.

"That is simply something they are doing, L. They only wish to defeat you in her memory. The deaths Backup caused--"

"You mean the people he killed." L stared at her.

"...Yes, you could phrase it as such." She paused. "That, and Charade's destruction of our building, are simply side-effects of their wish to defeat you."

"They are really that determined to exact revenge on me for something I didn't directly cause?" L roughly crumpled the candy wrapper in his hands and watched as he let it fall to the floor. "I wish to solve your cases and put you in jail for the rest of your lives, but this must be resolved first. I didn't kill Arrival. It was her collapse under pressure, something I could not have forseen..." he stared blankly at the candy wrapper on the floor, and as it began to unwrap itself he picked it up and ripped it into small pieces. The room was completely silent.

"...You feel it too, do you not?"

"Feel what?" L looked back at Fa, who was watching him intently.

"The need to shift the blame from yourself."

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head a little bit to the side, still holding a piece of the candy wrapper delicately between his finger and thumb.

"Do not act innocent, L." She glared at him.

He let the last piece fall and his hand returned to its place on his knee.

"Alright."

"In her last month, Arrival was dying. None of us knew it, but she hated herself with such a passion... And yet we, her close friends, did not notice her deteriorating condition despite our supposed genius-level intelligence. After her death, we could not deal with the idea that we failed at something truly important. And this loss was something we could not undo, something that we could no longer control. So instead of attempting to move on and make do with the friends we still had, we shifted the blame to a force we had to measure up against all our lives--you. It became our goal to destroy you. I suppose that among the side-effects of this entire ordeal we have lost sight of what Arrival may have wanted. However, it no longer matters in the face of our own emotions."

She stared at the pieces of the candy wrapper on the ground, as did L. They stayed like that for a long time.

"...I felt that way too."

"Hm?" Fa was caught a little off-guard.

"Inadequate..." L looked up at her, his regular expression of curiosity just slightly tainted. "As if no matter how many cases I solved the world over, I would never be able to outrun that single loss. I blamed Arrival and the orphanage, and I blamed you, her peers. But at my core, I would always be inadequate."

They were silent again, and then L slowly stood up and began to pick up the pieces of his candy wrapper. Fa watched his movements carefully.

"I must thank you, L," she said quietly.

He looked back at her, his expression once again normal. "For what?"

"I am more able to see you as human now. Granted, Dwindle and I will still defeat you, but I will keep your humanity in mind in the process."

L stood back up. "You're welcome, then. And also..." he shoved the broken wrapper in his pocket. "You're under arrest for terrorism and threats against the United States of America. The police are on their way. Goodbye, Fa."

He stood up and began to leave the room. Fa stood as well.

"Do you really think it would be that easy?"

He turned.

"Dwindle's location was false." It wasn't a question. He bit on his index finger.

"Of course. I would not let you track his location so simply." She stood straight and politely held her hands behind her. "I will still give you a chance to talk to him, but first you must give me some time. Phone me at this number when you have reached the airport, and I will give you directions to his true location."

"How do you expect to reach your phone from police custody?"

"You will not arrest me yet. If you do, you will never find Dwindle." She watched him as he thought out the process. Finally, he smiled at her.

"I should have known that my pupils would have a more elaborate plan. However, the police will arrest you as soon as you send his address to me."

"I realize that." Her face was stone-cold, and so he knew she still had something planned. Regardless, he would let it go. Dwindle was his primary objective now, and once he had him, he would be able to find and arrest Fa relatively quickly.

"Alright then. I enjoyed our conversation, Fa. See you soon."

"Goodbye, L."

He left the house and closed the door behind him, and Fa heard a car speed away. Once she could no longer hear the vehicle, she picked up the phone and dialed a number.

_"Hello?"_

"It is me."

_"Fa. Took you long enough."_

"I apologize for not repaying you for your favor until now, but L is headed your way as of now. I hope you make proper use of our gift."

_"Oh, I will, Fa. I'm very grateful."_

"I trust that your plane is headed this way?"

_"Yes. You have passage into America, but you'll be safely away from the chaos."_

"Thank you, Charade. May I ask you one more thing?"

_"...What?"_

"Do you plan for either of you to survive your final confrontation?"

_"..."_

The line clicked off and the dial tone came on. Fa hung up the phone.

She stared at the ground, where one tiny piece of the torn candy wrapper still lay.

She picked it up.

"Out of everything that could have resulted from your death, Arrival..."

She looked at the translucent wrapper through the light, but she didn't see it any differently.


	21. Bomb

A plane soared through the sky, speeding towards the runway. Passengers in cars stared up at the jumbo jet in awe as it sailed over their heads. Such a massive object held only about 175 people, excluding the flight crew. It seemed rather meaningless if it could only hold so few people, but to one person, it meant the world.  
That one person was waiting near the airport. He was waiting for _his _crew to take their final action--and they would, as soon as the plane landed. They were generally pretty stupid people--twenty-somethings who thought that all this was just to shake things up, make a fuss about some sort of fascist regime that L ruled over. Still, they could construct and detonate a bomb very well, and they were easily manipulated.  
And despite being 5th place, Charade was smart. He could tell them all the right things, about how everything in the world was wrong, about how they'd fix it. They would be blessed with the chance to change the world--all he needed was their unquestioning support.  
They'd probably all die in the explosion. He might've cared, except that they were stupid enough to take this on. It was their fault.  
Which was why he was here, safely away from the action. Contrary to what his underlings seemed to believe, L would survive the bomb. That was for certain. So Charade would wait here and watch as the evidence burned itself along with any of the poor witnesses to the crime, and then as L made his escape he would come face-to-face with a .44 magnum and some bullets.  
The plane landed and Charade began to walk across the street towards the airport. He chewed anxiously on the bent straw in his mouth and watched it as it slowed down and began to taxi across the runway.  
A child stared at him from a car in the parking lot with wide eyes. He didn't stop looking at Charade even when he was staring back. Presumably, the kid was fascinated by Charade's habit. He scowled at the boy, who finally turned away, fascinated by something else.  
For a second, Charade might've regretted going through with what he was about to do. But after this there would be no more pain.  
Revenge would be sweet.  
Because it had to be, didn't it?

_"...Thank you for flying with us today. We hope to see you again soon."  
_L disliked public airlines. He didn't have a private jet of his own, but he could cancel flights at will and often would to get quick passage from place to place. But today he wanted to be secretive. Charade would be waiting for him--probably with heavy artillery--and so he canceled two other flights but opted to buy a single ticket on this jet. He doubted it would deter him for long, though. It was not generally L's way to corner himself like this, but these people were...  
the circumstances were different. They called for different strategies.  
Watari would be waiting for him outside of the terminal, so he simply had to get out of the airport and he would be fine. He gathered his single bag of things and stood up to leave the airplane.  
The terminal of the airport was larger and more confusing than L was used to, especially when Watari wasn't around. Still, his sense of direction, like every one of his other mental abilities, was fine-tuned, so he was more than capable of navigating it. He clutched onto his bag with one large hand and bit on the thumb of the other.  
He bit into it slightly harder than normal when he felt the slight shake of the ground. People around him noticed it too and the airport was sent into slight confusion. Everyone looked around at each other to see their reactions, to see if they were reacting properly.  
L knew what it was, but he couldn't draw attention to himself. There was no time, no time... he jumped under a water fountain and felt eyes following him. The others didn't have time to react, though--the explosion was too fast.  
It shook the building much harder this time, and knocked everyone off their feet.  
Emergency crews quickly began to react, and people began to run in every direction. Children were screaming and crying. L watched everyone through the smoke. It was about to get a lot worse. People were scrambling to get their luggage and their children. Emergency crews were obviously in a panic.  
A little dazed from the lack of oxygen, L crawled out from under the fountain and ran through the terminal in his bare feet. He couldn't draw attention to himself. People needed help right now, but he had to find Watari and begin investigations, and arrest Charade. Charade--where was he now? He had to be close by. L looked around, but the smoke was heavy now, and from what L knew of this type of bomb a third explosion was on its way.  
He began to cough uncontrollably, but he kept running. These were all the tpyical things one would go through when breathing too much smoke and not enough oxygen--stinging throat, watery eyes, coughing, lightheadedness. L had never experienced them, and evidently they were much more serious in person.  
The exit to the terminal was near, a smaller exit that wouldn't be noticed as much. Still coughing he ran and pushed through the doors, nearly tripping and falling as they gave in and opened for him. He kept running until he was safely in oxygen, and then he stopped to catch his breath. Watari... where was Watari?  
There was a click, from behind him. He froze.  
"L."

---

In L's final moments Charade was unwavering and resolved. His escape attempt was futile--intelligent, but futile. Now all that was left was this.  
L and Charade and a gun.  
"Charade. It has been quite a while." L's voice was equally unemotional. He seemed almost apathetic.  
"Turn around, L," he spat.  
The detective complied and they stood face to face, just a few feet away from each other.  
"You did not wish to shoot me in the back? Perhaps it would have been easier."  
"Easier, yes, but not proper. Justice should be proper, shouldn't it?"  
"Should it?" L stared at him unblinkingly, one finger hanging in his mouth.  
"Shut up!" He pushed the round into the clip and his hand rested on the trigger. "It should, but it wasn't for you. You--you killed her, and you don't even care. Now you're getting what was coming to you your entire life. And it's my pleasure to be the messenger."  
He aimed. L stared.  
Not at the gun, though. L was staring at him--straight through him.  
"You always did show your feelings with your actions, Charade," he murmured. "just like that poor fire."

Charade staggered back. The gun dropped to the floor.  
There was something streaming down his face. Blood? No... it couldn't be...  
"Oh God, what the hell did you do, what the fuck did you do!?" He screamed through the tears. Everything was hazy and confusing. "What the hell did I do... oh God, Arrival... L..." He stared up at him in disbelief. How the hell did this happen...? Everything was under control, and then this... but he couldn't pick up the gun. He couldn't.  
Arrival hated him. From death, she hated him, for killing all those people... for almost killing L...  
He dropped to his knees.  
"Goodbye, Charade," he heard L say, and then he got into a car and drove away. Charade watched helplessly.  
"Arrival..." he stared up at the sky.  
"Arrival, I--"

---

The third explosion made L's ears pop, even from the car, which itself shook. He stared out the back window at the wreckage.  
So it was over. There was only one left now.  
"L, are you sure you were not too harsh towards Charade?" Watari asked from the driver's seat. "What you did could be called emotional manipulation."  
"That is true, Watari. However..." L half-turned towards the front, so his guardian could see him from the rear-view mirror. "I suggest that you do not question me on such matters. My plan worked, and so the ethics should not be questioned."  
Watari looked back at the road and L turned back to stare at the explosion. Police cars headed towards the blast, as did fire trucks, but L would be far away by the time control would be gained over the fires.  
The car was quiet for a long time. Finally, when they were well away from the airport, L's phone rang with a text message.

_"L-- Address of Dwindle's location:406 Aspen street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.  
I will be notified if you forward this message to anyone. I trust you will not call the police. --F"_

"Where to next, sir?" Watari asked, his voice a little quieter than usual.  
"406 Aspen street," L's voice returned to monotone and he once again chewed on the tip of his thumb. "Dwindle's house."

--

_**A/N: **_Sorry for the long wait, folks, but today and Monday will bring new chapters by the plenty. I've been thinking about the Case Files nonstop, but I'm getting that horrible thing where I start to think about what happens later, so I can't just write about what's happening now... but we're nearing the end. I think. I may write a sequel in the future, but you never know.  
Please rate and review~! It's what keeps me going. Seriously. =D


	22. of Pain and Reality

Everything hurt.  
His head, his muscles, his skin, his chest... every one of his nerves screamed in agonizing pain, drowning out any possibility of significant thought.  
Even the whiteness of the room stung his eyes. It had been hours since they'd locked him up in here, but his eyes were still unadjusted to the bright white walls of the prison cell. He sat in the center of it, in a small ball, his burns bandaged up as tightly as possible.  
After a day or so his mind had cleared somewhat, and he noticed that part of one of the white walls was a two-way mirror. The window on the door was the same, but he could see through both of them from the right angle.  
The food here was horrible, so he hardly ate anything. The doctor would order him to eat whenever he came to switch the bandages, but there was no point anyway. If he was stronger, he might just stop eating altogether and let himself die, but there wasn't much to do in his cell except eat.  
They would probably keep him here for the rest of his life. Some murderers could get out after 25 or 30 years, but the police could tell that he was different from them. He had planned everything, and carried his plan out with such precision and lack of emotion that logically he would immediately start again if released. Of course, he wouldn't. He had already lost, and if released he would more likely kill himself than murder anyone else.  
Why had he lost?  
He slept like this, too--in his tight ball of burns and bandages. He would lie down, but it hurt too much, so he hardly slept at all. Sometimes he would get so tired from all the pain that he'd slip into sleep, but it would only be for an hour at most. His dreams were always extensions of his real life, so all he dreamt about now was who was looking at him from the mirror. Roger, maybe, or L? Maybe Arrival... or Charade, or Dwindle, or...  
He was having one of these short-lived dreams a few days after they'd put him here when he heard noise from behind the mirror. It was hushed, and at first he thought it was just part of the dream he was having. Then, when he opened his eyes, he could still hear it. He stared through the mirror at the figure, and then he was sure he was still dreaming.  
The guard opened the door and glared at him, bringing a chair in and placing it in the corner of the room. All the guards here were so old, and their death dates were so close...  
"You have a visitor," he said. "Now be nice, or it's no food for a day." Like he would eat it anyway.  
He left, but the door was still open. A few seconds passed and Backup almost moved to look outside the door.  
Then she entered, and he knew he was awake.  
Everything about her was exactly as he remembered. Her smell, the sound her footsteps made against the floor, her jet black hair against the white walls. And her name and death date were there above her head, the exact distance from the crown of her skull that they had always been.  
"Fa." He hadn't heard his voice for a few days now, and it was raspy and weak. Still, saying her name made everything so much more real...  
"Good afternoon, Backup."  
She sat in the seat.  
He watched her for a minute without saying anything. Neither of them moved.  
Finally, she produced from her small bag a glass container, and handed it to him. "I thought that the food here would not be to your liking, so I brought this."  
He took it, wide-eyed, and immediately opened it despite the pain it brought on his hands. He scooped up a handful of the jam inside, and licked it off his hands. Most of the red substance fell to the floor in front of him, but for once a part of him wasn't hurting.  
"It was odd that I had to refer to you by your real name when speaking with the guards. It is quite a strange name, I must say."  
"Don't say it."  
She looked at him. "I beg your pardon?"  
"My name," he said. "Don't say it. Backup is fine."  
She obliged.  
"I suppose that this means we are even, then," she said softly, bringing her hands back into her lap. "You already know my name, and now I know yours."  
"Except I'm in prison for murder and you're free," he said quickly. "I wouldn't call that even. Not at all. Not even at all..."  
She was sitting next to him now. "That is not what is bothering you, Backup. I can tell by now when you are acting and when you are serious."  
He looked over at her. So awkward on the floor... as if it was difficult for her to sit as straight as she normally did.  
"You think I'm not serious, Fa...?" He stared back at the ground in front of him. "I lost. I lost, and that hurts more than any of these stupid burns or this stupid incarceration..."  
"And what, exactly, did you lose?"  
He stopped and looked at her. He tried to reply, but she started first. "Freedom? I would hardly call living in a one-room apartment on an air mattress freedom. Besides, there is no freedom in suicide, which is what would have happened had you won. No, Backup. You did not lose. As a result of L's actions, you have regained your life, for which I am glad."  
"...I don't care about life. All I see is death... no matter what we do, we always die on our death date..."  
"Do you at all think about the rest of our lives besides that day?"  
He stopped.  
"For humans, death consumes one day in their lives, their 'death day'. But every single other day could be considered a 'life day', then, could it not? And besides, one's death day does not determine their cause of death. It is simply an end point--a finish line. The end is not as important as the beginning and the middle. You should know this from our English class. And you are still alive, perhaps for much longer than this. You are capable of doing whatever you wish to until the day you die, Backup. It is your choice: live the rest of your life in happiness, or continue to make failed suicide attempts until your death day finally comes along."  
"...Fa... I'm... I'm in jail now..."  
She turned to him. "You are one of the smartest people in the world, Backup. I am sure you are only here because you wish to be."  
He smiled, and his eyes glittered the wine-red that they once were. "Guess so."  
She stood up. "I suppose I have done all I can for you, Backup. Now I must leave to find Dwindle."  
"Fa..." She turned to face him as he downed a mouthful of jam. "You said you were glad that I'm still alive."  
"Yes."  
"That's the first time I've heard you say you were happy... though I never would have guessed..."  
"As you know, I am quite skilled at hiding my emotions. I never said anything about removing them." She glanced at the mirror. "That is impossible."  
"...You'll come visit again?"  
"I believe that next time, it is you who must come visit."  
"It's a date then."  
She turned to leave. As she was at the door, he called her once more. "Fa...?"  
"Yes?"  
"I did it... what you wanted most. Dwindle will have it soon..."  
She was silent for a minute. What she wanted most...  
"Thank you, Backup."  
"See you soon." He smiled once more at her, and she nodded curtly back at him before opening the door and leaving.  
He took another bite of jam. He remembered the pain in his skin and flinched a little bit.  
So he knew what he would do now. He would wait for the burns to recover... and then he'd get the hell out of here.  
And back to her.

---

Dwindle was alone.  
For the first time in so long... in years, perhaps... he was alone.  
He never kept track of time. Fa did that for him. She was Far away now, and time seemed relative, anyway.  
It seemed relative, to those who thought from Earth. In space, it would still pass the same way mentally, making it relative and yet absolute at the same time. In terms of humanity it was relative, but it was absolute in its semi-existance, an existance that had solidified itself in the collective consciousness... absolute was too strong a word, really, but relative was too weak for it.  
He would have to be strong now, to be alright alone in the dark. He didn't move to turn on the light, because it was in this world and Dwindle was entirely relative--he thought, by now, that the way he saw space-time was different from humanity's collective reality. Even L, with his massive intellect, had forced himself into that collective reality, but Dwindle couldn't bring himself to do so.  
The rest of humanity could do it for him. Meaning, of course, Fa.  
But right now, he was shaking, and he was alone, and his much-too-active limbic system was taking control of his psyche. When one is easily able to think of 100 different things at the same time, being afraid is not a productive thing to be. So he shook.  
He could hear the car as it came down the block, and the figure as he stepped from the door. There were no others, but he would call them as soon as he had finished here. Others... the very people he was afraid of...  
He kept listening to the sounds as he opened the large front door. This was originally a very large storage room, so the door was made of metal and difficult to open. It functioned both as a non-suspicious place to operate out of and a sheltered area with no windows.  
Fa had left the door unlocked, though, knowing who would come looking for him.  
He listened as he walked through a smaller area, where it was less dark and had lower ceilings. More of a place for smaller cargo, where Fa kept any extraneous things they did not wish to move. Finally he listened as time slowed, and the large steel door to the room began to open. He turned around in his seat and watched him finish lifting the steel door so he could enter.  
"Hello, Dwindle."  
L.  
It was time... time to sit up, to stop watching the ball and actually step towards it. So far away, and now this one had Arrived... so close... every future threatened to play itself out in his mind, but he swallowed and put them in the back of his head.  
His reality... humanity's reality... L's reality... they had to come together now for his plan to be carried out.  
So he took in a breath. And then... vibration, deep in his throat... something he hadn't felt in nearly all his life.  
He began to cough.  
L watched him, unsure of what to do. He coughed and gasped for air and coughed some more, and leaned over. Blood dripped from his mouth. This one connection to what everyone else saw... the 'real' world... this one connection was the most he could do to show them his reality. He coughed all the pain out and all the blood out and all the tears out and L nearly called Watari for an ambulance. But then he stopped.

The ball dropped from his lap and into the blood in front of him. L watched.

And slowly...

a hand reached out from beneath the sleeves and picked it up.  
Dwindle gasped for air. But there was no going back now. He stared up at L, and with his unsleeved fingers lifted up the other thing in his lap... an opened envelope.  
"L Lawliet...  
You lose."

----

A/N: The final battle is coming... L vs. Dwindle. And Near finally speaks again, for him and for Mello...! Coming soon: the last 2 chapters of the Case Files!  
Please rate and review!~~


	23. Successors

_**A/N:**_ So this is the final confrontation... I want to thank everyone who's been reading this, whether they've been reading from the start or just recently. Either way, you've all really inspired me to keep writing this. I know I've stopped a few times, sometimes for a month or more... but it's nice that it at least gives a sense of suspense to the story... well, keep reading, because there's still more to come. What are Near's final thoughts? Why did L decide to convey this story to him in the first place?  
So, no more dawdling. Here it is. Dwindle's final appearance.

---

"L Lawliet...  
You lose."

The raspy voice echoed through the room despite its quietness. The beige figure was still shaking, and blood still dripped from his mouth, joined by tears. What were the tears from...? Effort? Depression? Exhaustion? L never cried, so it was always difficult to understand. Even Dwindle could hardly understand it, why every moment from the past flooded his mind at once, why this seemed so important that crying--that speaking--became necessary._  
_

_"God, you're one lucky bastard, Dwindle... a girl like that carrying you around while you plan everything... bet it'll be you two in the end to defeat him. Not me or Backup, but you guys..."  
"Just promise me one thing... that you'll keep winning. Regardless of what happens to the rest of us. Keep winning so you two can stay alive."  
"Because, Dwindle, it is just us now, and we must make the most out of what we have."_

"I must commend you, Dwindle. You have managed to find my name. I thought I had deleted it from all the records worldwide, but perhaps I was wrong."  
Dwindle shook his head. "Wasn't me... Backup..."  
"Ah. Poor Backup. Perhaps he had nothing better to do, stuck in his cell with all those burns. Although I doubt he would be capable of writing in that condition."  
"No, L... All of us..."  
L bit his thumb. "All together, you were capable of surpassing me? Indeed, that does make sense. I did feel like I was being led down a certain path by Fa. I wondered if it was one of your fabrication. Fa led me the way I was supposed to go, Charade gave you time to prepare and time for Backup's  
letter to reach you."  
"Lawliet..."  
Even for L it took a split-second to respond to his true name. He had upwards of 20 names in total, and his true one had fallen into the background in the midst of everything else... "Yes?"  
"To you... w-what is justice?"_  
The last piece of a puzzle..._  
L stared at him and attempted to regain his posture.  
"You... you know by now. It's what Arrival said. Justice is a second chance. Justice is kind."  
Dwindle shook in his seat. "Then... why? Why did she...?"  
"Is that what you've been trying to figure out all this time, Dwindle? Why she killed herself?" L scowled. "I doubt it."  
Dwindle clenched his teeth. He dropped the ball into his lap and held the envelope in the air.  
"I know... I'm not smart..." his voice trembled, and he took a breath out. He stared down into his lap. "I think about her... and think and... every conclusion doesn't make sense..."  
"So you wanted to ask me."  
Dwindle looked back up at L and nodded weakly.  
"Your peers were caught up in revenge and in their own anger, and yet you, the one who confronted me in the end, are the only one who does not wish for harm to come to me."  
"Tell me..." His voice trembled more and more. Reality tried to slip away from him, to leave him to his own thoughts, which threatened to overtake him themselves. Still, he clung to the envelope in his hands. The front of it had his real name on it. Backup wanted to prove to him that all this time he'd had an advantage, and that he was right. L's true name. He could've won all this time just with that, but he wanted to prove that he could win with his skill at planning and precognition. His flaw was that he never had a Backup plan...  
"Tell me why." For once, his voice resounded clearly through the room. It didn't shake or tremble or cut out, and reality finally surrounded him in blurry clarity. He heard his voice echo through the room more than once. It sounded different than he remembered.  
L broke eye contact with Dwindle and stared at the ground. All this time he thought it'd be easy, returning to his memory of Arrival, but now he found it exceptionally hard. He hated that he had almost forgotten her, that his mental picture of her had twisted and contorted into something unrealistic and confusing. Even her voice as he remembered it sounded unfamiliar. Her words, however, remained clear._  
"If in the entire world there's no one other than you who's like this, no one who could be a better L than me, what hope does the world have, anyway?"_  
"Arrival killed herself because she won."  
"...Won?"  
"She challenged me. I thought it was a game. I didn't know how serious she was. Find a better L than her. But I couldn't. In all the world, there was no single person besides her who would be able to succeed me. Not Backup, Fa, Charade, or you. So I posted the results--she would succeed me. She won the challenge. She hated winning, but more than that she hated that she was the only option. I wonder if she wanted to prove to me that there were others more qualified than her, so she killed herself just so that you and the others would attempt revenge. In that way, she remains the winner. None of you were truly able to beat me, were you?" He looked back up at Dwindle.  
"Arrival's case..." Dwindle stared at the envelope. "The only one you ever lost."  
"Yes."  
Dwindle heard noise outside, far away from here, but approaching quickly.  
"Police..."  
"Yes. I have brought them here. To arrest you, Dwindle. You are a terrorist."  
"You know already... what we said... it was to get your attention only."  
"It is still terrorism, is it not? Besides, the police always listen to L. And L never loses a case."  
Dwindle was quiet for a second and let his thoughts dominate his mind. Everything that had led up to this... everything L felt in response to Arrival's suicide... the conflicting ideas he was presenting.  
Then he knew what to do.  
"...L... I have... conditions."  
"I'm sorry?" L stared at him. "You are under arrest, and are in no position to--"  
"You may not arrest Fa or myself. You may not allow any of our faces or names on television, Backup and Charade included, from this point on. You will leave us alone, but give us the ability to contact you whenever we want to. And..."  
"You want me to give you freedom to remain silent about my name."  
"Not just that... if the world knows that L isn't perfect, that you have lost a case, that you are only a human like the rest of the world, you will fall from your current position. The justice that you have worked so hard to achieve will be lost. All they need to know is about Arrival."  
L bit his thumb a little too hard, and blood dripped from his mouth.  
"You're going to use Arrival's memory to blackmail me..."  
"Yes, and no..." Dwindle picked up his ball again, and held it out to L. "I have one more condition... that you let us watch the one you choose to succeed you. They must not die." He stared at the ball in his hand. "And when you die and they succeed you, we will test them. That is our gift to you, L Lawliet. Our abilities, once more, in the future."  
Slowly, and somewhat awkwardly, Dwindle's face twitched a little bit. Finally, he was smiling--a smile which he'd seen Arrival use once. Once, a long time ago, when she was still happy, and they were friends...  
"Now, there's no one... who can replace you... but someday, there will be... so... we'll see for Arrival who they are... and maybe you will win her case. Someday..." Reality began slipping away. L hesitated. Then he stepped forward.  
He placed his hand on the ball Dwindle held out to him. "I will oblige, Dwindle. I suppose that if there is anyone who can test my successor in her place, it is you four." He stepped back again, and Dwindle's hand with the ball fell back into his lap.  
"I suppose I should tell the police that everything has been sorted out, then. I wonder if I will see you again."  
Dwindle kept smiling, but he had fallen silent again, and his thoughts once again began to cloud his eyes.  
L seemed to understand. "Goodbye, Dwindle."  
He left, and closed the large metal door behind him. There was commotion outside, but after a while it died down, and the last car to leave was L and Watari's. Then everything was silent.  
There was a beeping on the computer after a while. Dwindle turned his seat back around, and clicked the answer button. Fa's face appeared on the large screen.  
"Hello, Dwindle."  
His smile had faded by now, but she could still see the relief in his eyes.  
"So it is finished, then. You were able to speak with him. I was able to as well, and I believe that Backup is happy to know you have used his help."  
Dwindle stared at her. He wanted to cry a little bit, but didn't know why. Fa nodded in recognition.  
"I suppose you are slightly sad that this is all over. But you have already figured out a proper course of action for us, have you not? I am sure we shall get by." She looked at him for a second, perhaps unsure as to whether this needed saying. "However, I suppose it is a little odd that in all these years the one you finally chose to speak to was L, and not myself. I had always believed that I would be the one to finally hear you speak."  
There was a long silence... and then finally...  
Dwindle pressed his hand against the computer screen--not the ball, but his hand. "Fa..." It was hard to find words.

"...I understand... Fa."

There was another long silence. Fa herself seemed at a loss for words, but Dwindle stared at her long enough that he saw a flicker of emotion in her eyes. Perhaps a way for her to repay him, for finally speaking to her. He wasn't sure what that flicker was. Happiness? Sadness? Surprise? Still, it meant something, and she pressed her hand against her screen next to his.  
"Thank you, Dwindle." She hesitated another moment, and then turned off the conversation. Dwindle's hand fell to the table and back into its sleeve.  
She would be back for him soon, he knew. Back for him... and then...  
And then. His mind was already calculating a hundred possible futures for all of them. He didn't know what would happen yet--that was the truth--but one of the thousands of futures he would calculate would probably be right. He supposed that it would be different in experience than in thought, like Charade liked to believe. Maybe he would be wrong, and some unforeseen force would change things radically, like what happened to Backup. Maybe there was no hope for the world after all, like Fa once thought.  
Arrival had always believed in it, though. She never believed in her own abilities, and towards the end of her life she probably didn't know what she believed, but she never doubted any of them.  
So Dwindle would succeed her. Not L, but Arrival. L was the most powerful person in the world, the one whom everyone else thought of as some sort of god--as Justice. But he--he and the others--would succeed Arrival as the only ones who could affect him--the only ones who could defeat him. Until there was no longer any need for that position, that's what he would do.  
No matter where the future took them.

---

_"Dwindle... why do you always carry around that ball?" She stared at it. "It represents something to you, doesn't it?  
But you'll never tell me, because you don't talk... oh well. Guess I'll never know." She smiled at him.  
He held it out to her, and she stared at him, shocked. "Is this your way of smiling, Dwindle?" She put her small, bony hand on top of the ball.  
"Then, whatever meaning this ball has to you, keep smiling... soon, maybe the whole world will understand why you never let go of it."_


	24. Final Thoughts

I wish that Mello would have been able to read these files.  
Perhaps then he would understand exactly what I wished to convey to him in my note to him on the back of his picture. I also believe that this case is one that every Wammy's house student should be aware of--the only one L ever lost, the case of Arrival, the girl that would end up shaping the future in a way that perhaps she had never intended. I believe that L allowed himself to die on the Kira case because he knew that in Mello and I, he had finally found the answer to Arrival's case, and in trusting us to succeed him he finally solved it.  
The reason, in fact, why I solved the Kira case was to keep L's record clean--as of now (from my position at least) he has never lost a case, and I prefer to keep it that way. Were he alive, I am sure he would continue to consider Arrival's case a loss, but I believe that at least it has been put to rest. She probably would have been pleased with L's ultimate conclusion, as well--telling Mello and I the stories of our predecessors so that we would understand our current position. She probably would dismiss any positive mention of her cognitive ability, but the fact remains that she was the only one to ever stump L during his lifetime, to the point where he was, in the end, unable to choose between Mello and I. Did he ever wish for her advice, I wonder? Would Arrival herself have been able to choose between Mello and I? I doubt anyone will ever know.  
As of this writing, Dwindle and Fa have faded into obscurity and although I have tried to find them, even I can't seem to. I wonder if that is the way they wished for it to be. Backup died at the hands of Kira, but the exact circumstances of his death and of his final mistakes prior to his death are a story for another case file--I believe that Fa herself would be more qualified to examine that case, and when I do find her I resolve to question her regarding her experience in this matter.  
Charade remains in a coma to this day, in a hospital in Los Angeles, California. The doctors still say that his brain damage from the ordeal was minimal--among the hundreds of people involved the 2002 Airport Bombing, he was one of the lucky ones in that he survived. His exact position on the street was slightly more sheltered from the bomb than other areas--whether this was L's purposeful doing or his own remains to be seen. The evidence regarding that bombing is circumstantial, and although the authorities have frequently asked me to aid in reopening the case, I continue to decline. Perhaps out of honor to L's memory, and perhaps out of respect to Arrival's--she considered Charade a close friend of hers.  
I am leaving these collected case files in the library at Wammy's house so that you may find it. Perhaps you are the one chosen to be my successor, or perhaps you are 26th on the list, but to me it does not matter. Mello was never able to read these files, so instead I resolved to allow you to read them. What you take from them is your choice. Will you remember us, your predecessors, as heroes or villains? Will you retain the respect that is considered necessary for children of Wammy's house, or will you betray your peers? Whatever you decide to do with the information I have given you, I implore you not to forget it. Kira's case, in comparison, is not at all important to L's motivations and history.  
You must be quite the reader to have found these files, so I applaud you for that. I have put Mello's book in this library as well, as I am sure he would have wanted, so I hope that you have found that as well.  
In L's last case, he was forced to show his face and work on the front lines, a decision which resulted in his death. When he first made the decision to do so, however, he uttered a phrase that was, in a small way, an homage to Arrival. I wonder if he knew he would die at that point, but I am sure that he knew the truth of his statement.  
And so I leave you with that. Remember us, your predecessors, and no matter what, never forget this.

Justice will prevail.

_--Nate River  
once Near, now L_

---

_**A/N:**_ Finally finished--on my birthday, no less! It's been so great writing this for the past few months.  
So I leave with the same thing. I hope you enjoyed the case files, everyone... please keep watching this story, in case I ever decide to do a sequel or something. Which I very well might.  
Please keep enjoying my stories, because I will definitely keep writing Death Note fanfics!  
And...  
It's my belief as well as L's... Justice will prevail. It has to. n__n

--K


	25. EPILOGUE: Beginning

_"Say cheese!"  
No one said anything except Charade, who mumbled it under his breath sheepishly. Roger took the picture without flash, and the camera made a long buzzing noise. That was the last picture on the roll of film.  
"Arrival, are you sure it is wise to leave pictures of ourselves behind?"  
"Fa, someday you'll thank me. Trust me!" She smiled. Roger gave the camera to Arrival. "Do you wish to get the film processed?"  
Her eyes widened. "Are you sure? We can go now?"  
"If you wish."  
"That'd be great!" She turned back to her friends. They sat in a line on the couch, somewhat uncomfortably. "You guys look a little strange... I wonder if the picture really will turn out well..." She smiled again. "Ah well. Do you guys want to meet back here at 9:30? It'll probably take us a couple hours to drive in and out of town."  
"Sure." Charade answered, and the others didn't seem to protest.  
Energetic with happiness, Arrival sped out of the room with a reluctant Roger in tow. The others watched her go.  
"She seems like the happiest person in the world sometimes," Backup said. Fa nodded. "It would seem so." Dwindle watched the doorway for another few minutes.  
Dwindle and Fa were the first to arrive, at 9:30 sharp. There was no one in the large library, so Fa sat Dwindle down on the couch and then sat next to him. "I suppose traffic has caused Arrival to be late. We will wait here, then." They both fell silent.  
Backup came about 10 minutes later, to find Dwindle leaning next to Fa, sleeping. His breathing was soft, but audible from the doorway, and Backup scowled. "Couldn't stay awake?" He asked, sitting down on Fa's other side. "Dwindle requires quite a bit of sleep to stay cognitively sharp," Fa replied.  
"I figured it'd be something like that." He sighed.  
Charade came next, around 9:45. "Lost track of time," he mumbled, then noticed Backup sitting on the couch. Dwindle leaned against Fa, seemingly fast asleep, and Fa's head was on Backup's shoulder, also asleep. Backup looked at him as he walked in.  
"Rough day, I see," Charade commented, looking at the spectacle. "She hardly ever sleeps."  
"Yeah..." He looked at Fa, somewhat awkwardly.  
"You don't seem too unhappy about it, though." Charade smirked. He sat down next to Dwindle. "Whatever. She'll be here soon... so we can stay awake, right?"  
It wasn't until 10:27 that Arrival got back. Traffic had been really bad. She entered the library, ready to apologize 10 thousand times, when she saw them on the couch.  
Charade had leaned back against Dwindle's shoulder and fallen asleep, and Dwindle himself was fast asleep against Fa. Fa's head was tilted against Backup's shoulder, and Backup had leaned against her head in turn and fallen asleep himself.  
Roger entered and saw them as well. "Shall we wake them up?" He asked. "They'll be disappointed to know how strange the picture turned out."  
She looked at the picture in her hands. Her friends looked somewhat like ghosts, staring at the camera as if they were deconstructing it in their heads. It looked as if they had never been children in the first place.  
It looked kinda unrealistic. "Nah," she said, shaking her head. "We'll let them sleep." She stepped forward and placed the picture on Fa's lap.  
Groggily, Dwindle opened one eye and saw Arrival looking at them. She smiled at him, and as he drifted back into sleep she left the room and closed the doors behind her._

---

**July 7, 2010**

Bony, thin fingers hidden beneath beige sleeves softly closed the pages. The folder was flipped back to the front and in neat handwriting was written:

**L's Case Files:  
On the Acts of Terrorism committed by C, D and F  
As collected by Nate River, former student at Wammy's House and currently working under the name of 'L'**

There was a chocolate stain next to the writing.  
Softly, he picked up the folder and laid it down on the table next to him. Next to it was a picture frame, which he picked up.  
5 children sat awkwardly next to each other, staring at the camera and looking a little ghost-like. They would probably look even more ghost-like if the picture had been taken now, here... with the glow of the computer screen and the fact that one was dead and another comatose. The shy girl who herself had taken the picture was long dead as well.  
The only thing that remained of them was this... and the case files. He would have to return them to Roger in good time.  
A ball rested in his lap. He remembered it, and put the picture down in front of him so he could hold it.  
It was time. Kira was dead, and it was time.  
"Dwindle."  
A young woman walked to his side and looked at the computer screen, a fresh cup of tea in her hands. He looked up at her.  
"I see you have done your research." Pictures of Wammy's House, the Kira case and the only known picture of Near in existance filled the screen. He nodded.  
"I shall make the required preparations. And..." Taking a pause to sip her tea, she looked back down and met Dwindle's gaze. "He should be waking up soon. We would do well to pay him a visit."  
Dwindle stared down at the picture. He smiled at the unfamiliar children, and they stared back at him indifferently. He lifted the ball in his hand towards Fa, and she lay her hand on top of it.  
"And so it begins," she said, her blue eyes lit by the computer screen. He kept smiling.  
For L... for Backup... and for Arrival...  
It begins.


	26. Update, for those still watching!

Hey everyone!

It has been so long! How are you all doing? So much has happened with me.

It's been almost a year since the last chapter of Case Files was published. This year took me away from writing and into a whirlwind of things, with a new school, two relationships and, in the end, a lot of self-reflection. I've found myself in a similar position as the one I was in when I created Dwindle, Fa, Arrival and Charade last December/January – trying to find and celebrate myself after a hard, emotionally draining relationship… in this self-reflection and mulling I have once again turned to writing as a powerful tool. So, getting to the point of this long paragraph, I give you, FINALLY, an update in the Case Files branch of the Death Note Universe: a mid/prequel from Backup's point of view known as "The Enigma of Fa." It is short - 2000 words, approximately – and deals with Backup's feelings in retrospect from his tiny jail cell near Los Angeles. I hope you enjoy it. It may still be a long time before I come up with the sequel. I have it all very clearly in my head, but after so long, getting back into the heads of Dwindle, Fa and Charade has been tough. I am very desperately trying to avoid making Case Files any more angsty than it is, so it might have to be that Remnants will be put on hold for longer. Please stay tuned to this story for future updates regarding Case Files: Remnants!

If you are interested in my original fiction works, check out my profile on writerscafe: kaychi. I am currently working on a teen comedy (with magic powers!), and could really use some feedback & editing… if you'd like to help, please email me at fireballyoshi (ATSIGN) .

Thank you for listening to my rant, and I hope you enjoy The Enigma of Fa. (You can find it, by the way, by clicking my username and going to my other stories. :D)

See you around!


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